Misaki-chan

Lily smiled. "Thanks," she said. "Ikuzo!" Suddenly, Misaki felt her phone vibrate (and beep) in her pocket. "Umm.... Your phone beeped." the girl mentioned. She gave her a smile before flipping her phone open to read the text. "Caution: Act as if you are all familiar with Jennifer Starling. I gave out a friends account *insertname* and the police think it's hers. They also believe Jennifer was going to meet us today. PS: Detective Caleb seemed familiar to the name "IdentityUnknown" but doesn't know Jay. He thought IU was he." "What does it says?" one of them asked. She recited the text message allowed before sending a reply. "Got it. Thanks for telling me." After the message was sent, she erased the received text. Just in case.

"Yeah, sure," Milan said. "Let's get back to the hotel and get some rest... with some exceptions, of course..." He grinned again. "Anyway, it would be a good idea to go back, gather up the information we've got so far, figure out what we can from it, and plan our next move." "Well, the vans are at Benford Industries, so let's start walking." Lily said. She started walking down the street and motioned for the rest to follow, but then she stopped. "Who has the map? I don't know where to go..." Misaki held up a folded piece of paper. "Right here," she replied as she opened it up. "Let's see... If we keep going straight, turn left onto Carter, then turn right onto Finch before one more left onto Wright we should get back to the hotel quick enough."

"That's true...." Lily said. "I agree with Misaki." "Oh, by the way, I'm sorry I lost a bit of my temper at the station. I blew it for everyone..." she apologized, her tone full of guilt. Misaki gave her a pat on the shoulder. "It's ok, everyone loses their temper every now and then," she replied. Seeing how Rose and Milan hadn't said anything, Lily asked as she got out her phone, "Well, what should we do, Rose and Milan?" "I still would rather make use of the rest of the day, but I'm not in the mood to argue. Besides, I sort of think Misa's right, We are getting back to the hotel. No one will get punished though. Right, Milan? Or should I run away for my life?" Rose said, looking at Milan who stayed quiet from the moment they walked out. Hope he agrees with the rest of us... I'm getting tired from all this walking...

As the group made their way out of the station, Misaki could hear Lily ask pleadingly, "Please. Can you give us a chance? A little help can't hurt, can it?" Once they were out, she looked at Rose and angrily yelled, "Why would you do that?!?! Asking questions like an interrogation, and then saying 'Body Bag' there. We're not trying to intimidate them, we're trying to ask them for information nicely. And body bag? Saying that might make them think we're not joking. Omigosh.... Can't you keep your promise?" Lily turned to Milan. "I still don't like your idea of punishment, but a full-on lecture is needed." "Oh, so I can stop pretending being a ghost huh..." Milan replied before giving a wink. "We are not talking about the same 'kind' of punishment here." "I already said that I was sorry for breaking my promise, wasn't that enough? And about the body bag thingy, according to Milan's punishment it might be true. Truth hurts. And I'm not getting a lecture nor a punishment, so don't bother." Rose stared at her. "I can't call it a day yet.. but still maybe our best option is to leave." "Okay.... Don't punish her..." Lily told Milan. "Getting serious, where to next? We can't come back here, due to Rose and my attitude, they'll probably be wary of us next time and send us out before we ask again." "So what now people..." Rose said as they walked towards the street corner. She grinned. "I know it's my fault we are walking out of here in the first place without getting any information, so don't hold any grudges people. Just let it out or tell me how can I make it up to you.. Wait! I've got it! We've still got an hour before we have to return to the hotel! We might return with something useful... Why not we go visit the crime scenes now instead of waiting till tomorrow? The real question is, where should we start...?" Misaki asked, "Is that the best idea? I mean, we've had a long day, we're all tired, and we're in an unfamiliar city. Plus, it's getting really dark. It's," she quickly flipped her cell phone opened to check the time before continuing, "almost 9 PM! Also, it's not like anyone who was there when the crimes happened would be there this late so there's that. Maybe the best thing to do is to just head back to the hotel and start tomorrow, when it's daytime and people who are regulars to the area are there."

I do wish I was better at asking questions on the spot. Though, it's probably best to start off with easy questions that wouldn't raise too many flags before we get into the ones that might actually help. "Umm.... Do you want me to ask the other questions instead?" Lily asked quietly, likely because Misaki had taken seemingly taken charge yet only asked one question. "Maybe, let's see where this goes," she replied. Meanwhile, the officer responded warmly to her question, "Of course, kids,". "Naturally, you can all find this stuff in the news," he said as he pulled something up on his computer, "but let me see." "You doing this for a project or something?" he asked. "If you really want to solve the mystery, I suggest you kids leave it to the police. We're quite capable. Still, I suppose it's no harm giving you public information... "Lillian Rockwell died at the train station on Line 3. It's located on Tram Street. Bradley Miller died on the crossroad between Park Avenue and Jefferson Lane. Phillip Fillmore was shot in Rainwater Square and died later that night in the hospital during surgery." Huh. We'll have to check those places out. And I wonder why Fillmore didn't die right away... After all, he was the only one who made it to the hospital even if he didn't make it out. Also, why was he and Starling killed so close to each other when the others were spaced out by a month? Officer Holden nodded. "Yup, that's it kids. I'm sorry, it's super late kids, so I've got to go. My colleague, Officer Andrews, will take over my station. Talk to him if you need any help. Also, Detective Caleb is out of the station, I believe he's gone home, but Inspector Sterling is staying late. Unfortunately, he's in a meeting, but he should be out in about fifteen minutes." The group thanked him for his help. Once he was gone, Rose said happily as she stretched her arms, "Finally we've got some interesting things!" She paused for a second before smiling, "Oh, excuse me for the extreme excitement. I think we should visit the places the victims were shot, we might find some things.. Like buildings. if there were some buildings near the crime scenes its most likely the murderer shot them from there, I mean like.. you can't really just kill someone in a middle of a crowd can you? and I'm bad at explaining, anyways we don't have time today, so maybe tomorrow?" The rest of the group nodded in agreement. "Wait.. Do you agree on my idea or that I'm bad at explaining?" she asked. "A bit of both," one of them said. "Can't blame you.." Just like the officer had said, Inspector Sterling came out about 15 minutes later. "Oh, it's you kids," he said, frowning as he looked at you. "You're from the...the detective forum, right?" He sighed, running his fingers through the few strands of hair he had left. "Do you have any questions or something? I could get someone to find you a psychologist if you're having trauma or something." "Yes, we are from the DCW Forum. We don't need a psychologist, but as for questions....." Lily started before Rose cut in. "The victims. Did you find any relations between them?" Rose asked. "Not reall-- Why should I tell you?" he replied. "You asked if we have questions, right? Also, any suspects yet? Another thing, Is there anything similar between the cases other than the rain and that all murders happened in a crowded place, and that all victims died almost the same way? Yes, I ask a lot," she grinned. Misaki dug her fingernails into her palms, not all that pleased by the questions that had been asked though it didn't show on her face. Too much too fast. We aren't going to get anything. The inspector kept quiet for a minute as he scratched his head before saying, "Now look... I know you kids are from some detective forum or something... But I suggest you kids should not dive too much into the case and leave it to the police. Look, we are all really busy now and would do fine with no other distractions..." Lily, obviously annoyed, snapped, "Sorry, sir, I know we should leave these stuff to the police, but we have a friend's name we have to clear! Besides, we're interested in a future of solving crimes. So, can you please let us help you? This might have something to do with us more than you think, it's a weird coincidence." "I asked if you had questions, doesn't mean I asked you to help run an investigation," Inspector Sterling shot back, his patience clearly running thin. "If you're gonna continue with that snappish attitude, then I have no obligation to be standing here, talking to you. You need to learn to control your mouth, young lady. It'll get you into serious trouble someday." He raised his eyebrow in an intimidating manner. "If there's nothing else you'd like to speak with me about, you'll excuse me if I head home, My wife and daughter are waiting for me and I'm already late." He tapped his foot, though his eyes softened at Lily's plea. "Look, kid, I know you want to help. I have a daughter at home and when she was younger she was much the same. It's great that you have an interest in solving crimes and I'm sure you'll do well when the time comes. But you can't force things to come early. And I can't let you help us. Just trust that we'll find the murderer." I see no mention of clearing Jay's name... "I know you must be a little overwhelmed, but really," he said. "We can handle it." "Actually sir, I wasn't trying to disrespect you," Rose replied, attempting to be polite though not really. "Or run you late for that matter, and I understand that I've been a little, alright way too much rude. But, Curiosity kills." She gave a smile, though there wasn't a hint of anything genuine. "I don't really have anything else to discuss. Maybe they have something to say, after all I promised them not to interfere but broke my promise and got things worse and I might return here in a body bag." She stared at her group, all innocent like. Before the detective could say anything, Misaki said, "We're so sorry for keeping you so late, we'll be on our way now." She turned to the rest of the group, using her face to tacitly say that annoying Detective Sterling wouldn't be a good idea, before saying, "Right?"

The group made their way to the police station, with Misaki walking ahead of the others a few feet due to her long strides. Only half listening to what they were bantering about behind her, she allowed herself to fall into her thoughts. Well might as well go over what we might need to know, or rather what we can ask without it being suspicious. After all, once the police lose trust in us, it won't be very easy to get information. I would like to know what sort of bullet was used to kill the victims, though is the police allow to release that sort of information? After all, they do have to prevent copycat crimes. We could find out by looking at the body, but I doubt they would let us near it, especially since they know we didn't know any of the victims personally. I wonder if the killer was a sniper. It would make sense, seeing how it would be hard to kill someone with a handgun accurately without being seen. Were there any buildings nearby that would be ideal for a sniper? Crap, can't remember... Note to self, stop by the area sometime soon. Though if I think about it, chances are the police have already considered the possibility and have canvased potential sites. And where were the other victims killed? I can't seem to remember. Were they near places easy to snipe someone from? "Let's go with the same project plan, except change the subject from cars to the Rainmen Serial Murders. I don't want to make up different lies, because we might get them confused and they will probably see through it.... Any other ideas?" Lily said as they came close to the police station. "If you can't remember, the police questioned us. They already know who we are and that we aren't locals. I don't suggest we lie, saying the truth would be much better. And easier. " Rose replied. "Well lets get in shall we?" "Oh yeah....." Lily said, pausing for a second before continuing. "Sure, let's go!" The group entered and found everyone else there, talking to Detective Caleb. "Hey, should we look for the Inspector instead?" the girl asked the group. No one answered. She said, "Um... Hello? Anyone there?" Once again, no one answered. She didn't see anyone but an officer at a desk, but he was busy helping a few other from DCW. Once the other group was done talking to the officer, she walked up to him and asked, "Excuse me, would you mind answering a few questions?" "Sure," he replied. "What do you want to know?" Seeing how she had the go-ahead, she continued, "If you happen to know and if it wouldn't be much trouble, do you think you could tell us where the first three victims of the Rainman Serial Killings were killed?"

After Rose had (rather rudely in her opinion) told off the secretary, she walked over to the group and said, "Aw, I came on the end of the conversation. No progress made then eh. Guys, kill me sometime later, right now we have to go to the police station. We have like an hour and a half to get what we want. And before you say it, I'll let you all handle this without interfering. I might let a comment or two though." As she grinned, Milan spoke gently, "Don't worry Rose, no one will kill you." "BUT..." he continued, looking her straight in the eye with a somewhat evil smile on his face, " You'll get... *cough*... punished... when we get back to the hotel.", "What kind of punishment?" Rose asked, looking afraid. "You're going to know when we get to the hotel." Milan replied, his smile getting wider. "Okay, now I'm really afraid." She gulped. "Don't tell me we have to walk again. We do? Why is the world so cruel." "Walking isn't so bad," Misaki said as she pressed the down button for the elevator. "though using the van would have been more convenient."

It didn't take them long to walk to Benford Industries, only about 15 minutes. As they entered the main building, she noted that the building wouldn't be open to visitors soon. We better hurry. Following the two boys, Misaki headed to the main desk where a rather unhappy looking secretary was sitting. It was then she notice the other girls weren't with them. She looked around before seeing them approaching the group from the entrance. Lily coughed as she made her way to the front. "Excuse me miss," she said. "Sorry about my classmates. We're from the local high school and university. We decided to do a combined project on transportation. Our teacher told us to do portion of our report here. Our teacher said that he was a close friend to...." The girl paused, her eyes shifting from the secretary to the wall behind her before continuing, "Mr. Tim James."

After Misaki gave her answer, Jay started to speak. "Oh and...make sure to grab something to eat," Jay said as she handed out a few bills to everyone. She gently folded her bills up and stuck them in her pocket. Maybe I'll get pizza? Pizza sounds nice. "Try to be back before ten or at least check in with me by then so you don't accidentally wander into Oregon or something. I'm assuming most of you have phones and you're never too far from one around here." Jay frowned. "Were you going to ask me something?" It seemed like everyone had grouped together nicely. Jay took out her smartphone and checked it. "I've got everyone's numbers and you should all have mine. Whatever you do, try not to get yourself killed." "We should head somewhere to look for clues. Maybe we should try Benford Industries?" Rose said. Misaki gave a shrug, not really caring where they went. Wherever they decided was good enough for her. The other two voiced their agreement. One of the boys added, "We should consider asking the following questions: What can you tell us about Jennifer Starling? What was her exact job? How does your transporting system work from source to the destination? What can you tell us about the train accident from a year ago? From which to which location was the train supposed to go? Who was the person that requested the transport? Did Jennifer Starling have any connections with it? Do the names Lillian Rockwell, Bradley Miller, Phillip Fillmore mean anything to you? Yeah... that's about everything that fell on my mind at the moment..." "Hey, people," the girl said. "What do you think, after we are done with the Benford Industries, and if we still have time , why don't we visit the police station? Who knows what we can find there! And Misa-chan, are you in or out? We need to get moving.." Misaki tried to bite back a sarcastic remark, even putting up a pleasant smile to try and keep it under wraps, but it still seeped through as she said while getting up, "Well I did say yes had you been listening. So let's go." The minute it fell from her mouth, she internally winced even if she didn't show it. Geez Misaki, nice going. Regardless, she didn't make a move to apologize for the remark. She spoke her mind, and she wasn't going to be apologizing for it (even if it could have been handled in a better way). With the others following behind her, she suddenly stopped. "How are we getting to Benford Industries? Do we have a car or something?" she asked.

Deep in her thoughts, Misaki didn't notice her roommate approaching her until she lightly tap her on the shoulder, causing her to jump. Lily seemed startled by it, but asked quietly a moment later, "Ano.... Misaki, would you like to team up with Rose and I to solve the case?" "Um..." she started, honestly not sure how to answer. "Can I have a second to think about it?" The girl nodded before heading over to a boy and talked to him. After a minute, they came back to her and announced that Milan (as his name apparently was) was joining the group. "Should we invite him too?" she continued. "I heard he was good at physical stuff, maybe he could help us if we ever got attacked.... Plus, he seems lonely..." "I don't care," Misaki answered. "And as for joining your group, I'd love to."

Misaki shivered, cold from being rained on and the light wind that had started up. She had already been interviewed by the police and apparently had not been much help, as they stopped only after a few minutes. They told her she could go home, though she really didn't want to try getting back to the hotel without the others. Now would not be the best time to get lost. "Do you need a blanket?" She looked up, seeing an officer with a folded orange blanket in his hands behind her water-covered glasses. Giving a small smile, she answered as she took it, "Yes, thank you." He gave a tip of his hat before going to interview other people. She quickly unfolded the blanket and used it to wipe some of the rain off her skin and lens before wrapping it around herself. It helped with the cold a bit, but did nothing from keeping her wet clothes from sticking to her or protecting her exposed legs and face from being hit by the wind. "Hello everyone," a smooth, confident voice said, causing her to raise her head that she hadn't realized had been tilted down. A man, dressed in a decent grey suit and practically radiated cockiness but at the same time assertiveness, was standing on a bench. "I am Inspector James Sterling and am headed with this case." James Sterling? That sounds familiar... Wait, isn't he the one who's in charged of the Rainman Serial Killings? "Everyone hold tight. We have a little more questioning to do and luckily, the clouds are passing. We'll keep you updated as to when you are able to go home." Once he had stepped down from the bench, Amber (who had been talking to a police officer only moments before) made her way over to where the group had congregated. "Alright. We're regretful to have such an unpleasant incident to happen on the first day of our gathering but I hope all of you remain calm and be patient and cooperate with the investigations. Since Jay had a rough day, I'll be taking over for her temporarily." She smiled over at Jay before continuing, "Alright, now, since we're unable to-" "Excuse me..." Detective Caleb interrupted. "We will need to conduct a search on your belongings if you don't mind..." "Huh? I'm sorry Mr. Detective. We would love to cooperate with you on that but I would like to understand why this is necessary?" she asked, clearly looked annoyed at the idea of someone going through her things. "Well, our investigations had found out that the woman was killed by a single bullet shot through her heart. We've searched the entire park but haven't found any guns or murder weapon. Thus it must be within the belongings of the people." "Wait sir, could it be, you're suspecting that one of us is the culprit? Look sir, there's no way that any of them are the serial killer! They've just arrived in Seattle today morning!" "That's true. But it may just be a copycat murder. We wouldn't know... And-" "Sir! We've got new discoveries!" a uniform informed. "What is it?" "We've taken the bullet for investigations and confirmed that it was the same type of bullet as the previous murders." "... So it's the same murderer huh?" "See now detective?" Amber responded. "Right. So we just need to investigate on the four of you then..." He replied as he turned back to the group. "... Huh!?" "Well there are four of you who currently stay in Seattle right? And all four of you had been staying here ever since the first murder happened. So there should not be any problem right." "Al-alright then..." Amber sighed, still looking reluctant. "So who are the fou-" "Amber, Mark, Elizabeth and ... Jay. Please step up. Thanks." All four handed over their bags and of course nothing out of the ordinary was found. "Alright," Detective Caleb said once the bags were returned to their rightful owners. "You guys may go now. However, please do note that we may need to call you back for investigations whenever we deem necessary. And Ms. Jay, we will probably contact you again for your assistance. Thanks for your cooperation." Ten minutes later, the group was back at the hotel. While standing in the hall of their floor, Amber got a piece of paper from her bag and looked it over before saying, "Alright. Even though we still have some stuff on our itinery, I'm sure you guys don't mind cancellig those for tonight? I'm sure all of you are pretty exhausted now so we'll be staying in the hotel for the rest of tonight. Well, for those who would like to discuss about the recent incident, you might like to head down to the cafe at the first story half an hour later. I would be doing some recap on the recent events. If not, you may stay in your hotel room until dinner time at 6. Meet at the lobby at 6 later. We'll be bringing you to our dinner location later." The minute Misaki was in her hotel room, she headed to her luggage and got out some dry clothes. As she made her way to the bathroom, she asked Lily, "You don't care if I take a quick shower, do you?" Once she saw the shake of her head, she closed the door. A while later, she emerged, wearing something similar to what she had on before, but this time dry and warm. Giving a quick glance around the room, she saw that her roommate was nowhere to be seen. "Did she already head down to the cafe..?" she muttered to herself as she checked the time. She swore under her breath when she saw that she would be late if she didn't hurry. Quickly, she slipped on some shoes and hurried down to the meeting place. When she entered the cafe, she saw that the others were already seated. Great. I'm late. Thankfully, no one seemed to be paying much attention to her as she slid into a seat. "You know," someone suddenly said, "There are three things I want to know. First: How fresh the body was. Two: Did someone run away? Three: Did the killer use silencer or little gun? I mean, did we hear gunshot?" He stopped and started again to write to his notebook. "Oh and someone could make a map of the park?" he added before he got an electronic out and started doing something on it. "The body was shot on the scene, it wasn't discovered, the woman was simply murdered. Plenty of people ran away. Not everyone wants to stay at a murder scene." Jay's voice was concise and clear, though a little cold. "The rain was fairly loud at the time so it's difficult to say if there was a clear gunshot. A gunshot is louder than most people expect, so it's logical to assume that the killer may have had a silencer. That doesn't tell you much though. There are no suspects and none of you are acquainted with Seattle enough to do much investigating at this point," Jay answered before saying, "I'll grab everyone some drinks if you guys still want to discuss this." Everyone went around, saying what they wanted. "I'll have an iced tea," Misaki said. After everyone who wanted to come was present and had their drinks, Amber explained the basics of the crimes. "... However," she said, "there is a problem... And that is, it seems like the murderer is just killing off random people. It makes me shiver to realize, that if the murderer had shifted his target to the person beside the lady, it may have been Jay lying down there instead. So, if we were to go there, I'm afraid we would endanger ourselves instead." Nobody spoke. "Alright. Let's not think about this. For now, let's just forget about all that's happened and enjoy our gathering. We have planned activities for these few days, hope you guys will enjoy them. Okay? And once you're done with your drinks, make your way to the lobby since it's almost six." Misaki had already finished her drink, but waited for a few people to get up and leave before doing so herself. Her mind were still on the killings as she walked out of the cafe, so she tried her best to push the thoughts aside. I can think about it later, on my own. For now, I should enjoy the company of people I never get to see! But as she sat in one of the comfortable chairs in the lobby, her mind would stay on nothing but that.

Misaki fell onto the bed, a happy sigh falling from her lips as she made impact. It felt nice to just lay down and rest, especially after spending all day moving around. God, this is such a comfy bed! The rest of the room was quite nice as well. There was a nice bathroom with a marble sink, a tub, shower, and enough toiletries for her and her roommate (who's name was escaping her... She knew it was a flower name. Daisy? Rose? Lily? Lily. That sounds right). The wallpaper is white and gold, the swirls and curls pleasing. Against the wall were two long mahogany desks, accompanied with two comfortable chairs and a stand up lamp in the corner. As she lazily turned her head towards the window, the curtains pushed open to let in the sun, she noted that the view was pretty good as well. Sadly, she was only able to lie down for a minute before Jay knocked on the door and said, "Ready to go?" ~~~~ Misaki looked at the gorgeous display of reds, yellows and greens on the trees as the group entered Maple Leaf Park. Sure, she had seen such things every year when fall came around, but it still didn't dampen the wonder she felt. As they walked through the park, passing couples and food stands, Jay told everyone that there was a mini amusement park located near the south entrance, but suggested that you all grab something else to eat before heading over. Her eyes lit up at the mention of an amusement park. I love amusement parks! I wonder if they have a ferris wheel~ Once you made it to a large fountain, spouting out an endless stream of water, the group grabbed a couple of benches to sit on while Jay passed out money to everyone. She did feel a little guilty about taking the money since after all, she had paid for everything else as well, but took it anyway when she saw no one else questioning it. Looking over to Suki, she asked, "So what are you going to get? I'm getting a burger~"

When all she got was a quick wave to her greeting, Misaki tried her best to hide her displeasure but a small pout still managed to get through. Least they could do is say hi back... Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a smaller girl and knew who it was right away. "Suki!" she exclaimed happily as she bounced over to her. "I'm so glad you came!" "Yeah, me too," she replied. "So how have you been~?" Misaki asked. "Good and you?" Suki said. "I've-" she started, though stopped mid-sentence when she heard someone say, "Mysterious Serial Killer Strikes Again?" The girl turned to Mark. Seeing that a few people were staring, he explained, "It's the news. There's a serial killer going around killing people. Look." He held out the newspaper article, which she eagerly took. After scanning the contents and passing it to the next person, she said, "Who would have thought we'd come to the city with a serial killer on the loose?" "Just another crime spree in Seattle, the police will probably stop it," she heard Mark mutter. She and Suki continued to talk, having not in a while, when Jay said, "We'll be here for a little bit more while we wait for more of our members to join us. How about some of us go grab a bite to eat? Also...I was thinking...after we manage to find all of the members who are supposed to meet us here, we could take a look at the recent murders in Seattle Mark just mentioned. I mean, we are part of DCW after all. I doubt we'll be able to solve it, but it'll be fun just trying it out." Ooo~ Solving a murder! That would be fun though I do wonder if the police would even want our help... "Yep." Amber said, speaking for the first time since she arrived. "We erm... could head to the newly opened branch of Figgy's Tarts downstairs. They sell good fruit tarts there... We could go there and wait until the rest arrived. I'm... I'm not so sure that discussing about a murder case during meals is appetizing... but well... we could decide while eating... So what do you guys say?" While Misaki wasn't fond of tarts, she just shrugged since she had already eaten and as a result, wasn't hungry. Amber continued, "Jay, you know where Figgy's Tarts is don't you? Why don't you bring them down? I'll stay here to wait for the rest of the people." After only a few minutes of following Jay, they arrived at the tart shop. She opted to wait outside with the few others who apparently wanted nothing as well. In the meantime, she sat down in one of the shop's outside seats and watched the people of Seattle pass by. People watching had always been a bit of a hobby of hers. She loved seeing the people walk by, wondering who they were and what their story was. Suddenly, she felt a tap on her shoulder, jumping a little in her seat in surprise. Seemingly unfazed, Suki said, "Misaki, we're heading back now."

Misaki stretched her arms as she officially stepped back onto land. Finally, after talking with these people for so long online, she was going to meet them! I still wonder how she managed to pay for all our tickets though. After grabbing her bags and a snack, she made her way to the arrival terminal. Though it took a minute, she quickly spotted a girl holding a sign saying "DCW Forum" leaning against a pillar with a black suitcase. There were others as well, most of which were either talking to someone, typing on a computer or listening to music. "Hi," the girl with the sign said as she made her way over to the pillar. She was smiling easily, but at the same time little bit cautiously. "I'm IdentityUnknown, the organizer of this little trip." Misaki gave a warm smile back. As tempted as she was to hug her, she knew the girl was never a fan of hugs, so instead took the hand offered to her and gave it a firm shake. "You can call me Jay. Most of us are here already." Using her head, Jay motioned to the others. "That's Mark, though since he's reading the paper, I wouldn't interrupt him. Mohorovicic, that's his DCW name. Elizabeth, or Elli, or L--she goes by a lot of names--is the girl with the purple hair and combat boots. She's Sparrow. Oh, and that short girl is KKLT, also known as Amber. Just introduce yourself to the people around and you'll be fine." The others looked a bit preoccupied, but nonetheless made her way over to someone. "Hey!" she said, grinning. "I'm Misaki!"

"Just because it is difficult, it doesn't mean you can leave it alone. The problems of the world are solved by struggle and toil, aren't they?" Misaki turned to the front of the class, where the man stood. "Anyways, Sasaki has been eliminated." She could see the color drain from Hakuyan's face before squeezing her eyes shut, not wanting to see what she knew would happen next. The sound of someone exploding filled the room as a drop of what was once the baseball star splashed onto her face. Grimacing, she slowly wiped it off with a scrap piece of paper. Meanwhile, after Hakuyan had been... eliminated, the man continued. "And I have a final riddle for you. There will be no more breaks." He paused, took a breath, then recited: "Chester is driving down a road. Along the way, he meets Arthur, driving the opposite direction. Who is the only person, under all logical circumstances, that Chester cannot meet while driving?" He paused once more before walking over and picking up his suitcase. "I don't know if this will be hard for you, but it does not matter. Anyone who answers this riddle correctly will be able to leave. Anyone who does not will be left here...for an extended amount of time. And by that, I mean forever." He began to walk out, then stopped. "By the way, I will inform you of one last thing. All penalties resulting from rule infractions have been tripled. And then, good luck to all of you, experiments." After the man left, the results of the previous riddle appeared on the board. Misaki frowned, having lost yet another point for getting the wrong answer. Though at least I'm still going strong. I have the most points out of everyone. As far as the riddle went, after repeating it in her head a few times she thought she knew the answer. So she wrote it down and waited.

As Misaki threw away her wrapper, she noticed that the next riddle was on the board even though the man hadn't appeared. I wonder why he didn't come this time. But instead of contemplating the fact more, she decided it was a better use of her time to actually read and solve the riddle. Excess is to litter as immolate is to: A) annex thinning C) burn D) actually She frowned. Unlike the last riddle, this one was hard. After going over her options (and looking up what immolate meant in one of the classroom dictionaries), she wrote down her answer and waited.

From her seat, she saw someone poking around the desk before pulling out a briefcase. The man's briefcase. "Hey, guys, look over here!" He said as he opened the suitcase and pulled out a stack of small metallic cards, intricate designs decorating them. "What the hell are these? Grand Scheme?" "I guess they could be useful." "I should take one." "Hey, me too!" Misaki watched as students scurried up to the front to get a card. They could be a trap. After all, it did come from his briefcase. Not going to risk it. "Good afternoon. My, you're all silent." She brought her attention to the door, where the man stood. "Ah, you found my suitcase. And looks like you've been peeking around. No problem, that's all part of the plan." "I'll make this one quick, the results are up, p of o, and so forth. Good day." And with that, he slipped out of the room. The result flashed onto the screen. A small smile decorated her face as she saw that she had gained a point. Just one more. Then I can get out. Since it was their break time once more and she was getting a bit hungry (really, you would think the man would feed them), she grabbed a granola bar from her desk and munched on it as she waited for the next riddle to come.

Before Hakuyan could answer, Miyu said, "Could it be... The door isn't actually locked?" "What are you talking about!?" someone said. "We tried it at the very beginning remember!?" "What about after that?" "Didn't you see the entire mass of dead bodies around!? They tried to get out of the windo- wait." "You see...? No one tried the door afterwards isn't it?" "... True. But who can guarantee that nothing will happen if we tried to open the door? Like the window incident..." "The man went out of it unharmed didn't he?" "That's because he is the organizer, they must have stopped the firing just for him right?" "Well tha-" At the sound of something creaking, everyone turned to the door. "Hey guys... I think... I have just discovered something... haha." Mao laughed, though it was anything but warm. She has just opened the classroom door. Everyone stared in shock, Misaki included. The door is open? Why is that? "Sorry I'm late." The man said as he stuck his head through the doorway. "And I guess you guys already realized the door's unlocked. Took less than I thought. Anyway, I have the riddles with me, if you wish. And although I am not allowed to tell you the rules, I heavily advise against escaping unless you have 8 points." He gave the class a wink. "Good luck. P of o ended." Eight points, huh? Well, I'm at six right now... So as long as I don't lose any more points I should be good soon. Like the last two times, after the man had left the next riddle flashed onto the screen. 3) There are 3 stoves. A glass stove, a brick stove, and a wood stove. You only have 1 match. Which do you light up first? Misaki studied the riddle, thinking long and hard about what to answer before scribbling it down on a piece of paper. Once she placed it on her desk, she waited.

"Well, hello again, students." Misaki looked to the desk, where the man was standing. "This time the results of the puzzle were a bit...disappointing, I will admit. You can see for yourself." The results flashed onto the screen. She frowned at the fact that she had lost yet another point. I will have to do better. "More importantly, Metantei Kiddo has been eliminated. Frankly, I barely remember him, and rules and rules. I advise you turn away." She did as suggested, since she would rather not have to see more death than needed. Who was Metantei Kiddo anyway? After a few minutes, the man continued, "Again, it is the p of o. Another rule and puzzle will be deployed after this." And with that, he was gone. Chatter slowly filled the air as she made her way to Hakuyan, her brown skirt swishing with every step. "So, what do you have?"

"Hey...let's break up." "Eh?" Miyu said, her surprise obvious. "Hakuyan!!! What are you talking about? Talk about great timing!" Mao yelled at him. "No it's okay Mao... He's not being a jerk this time as he usually is." "But Miyu-chan..." "Alright Sasaki-kun. Since I have never formally accepted any relationship between us there's no need for any breakups." Meanwhile, Misaki watched the scene unfold silently. I have to say, one of the smarter choices Hakuyan has made. "Well, hello...there." A man suddenly appeared at the teacher's desk, clad in a nice suit (looked expensive; judging from the stitching she would guess Armani) and carrying a briefcase. "I have finished grading your answers. Those who got it correct gain 1 point. Those who got it wrong lose 1 point. Those who don't answer lose 4 points." You should see the results soon." "Right now it is your break time. You could consider it a point of order. Once this ends, a new rule will be instated. And a new puzzle. Well, then, good luck." The man then opens the door and walks out, closing it behind him. Once he exited, the results projected onto the screen. She was pleased with herself for getting the answer right, though she had also lost a point. What did I do wrong? Need to use this time to go over my actions... Well, at least the added point neutralized the lost one. She sat on the turned over desk, now riddled with bullet holes as she began to start at the beginning. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Hakuyan grab a notebook off the floor and a pencil from a desk before scribbling in it. Perhaps he knows something? "If anyone has any theories that could help us win, I'd like to hear them," he said to everybody. "The most confusing rules are the ones that expect us to say certain things." "Maybe they just want us to be nice?" someone chimed in. "I guess. But to who, when, why, etc. is what we need to figure out." Before anyone could say another word, the man reappeared. "Well, hello again, students," he greeted. "I would like to clarify something: I declared a point of order earlier. During a point of order, no rules apply. It is, after all, your break period." He looked at his watch. "I believe point of order has ended now. A new rule has been instated. And a new puzzle will be issued. Good luck." Once again, the man walks out of the room and closes the door behind him. The minute he was gone, the riddle projected onto the screen. How many s's are in this sentence? "Slowly the snake slithers across the snake-infested snares." Misaki carefully studied the riddle. It could be- No, can't be. So I guess it could be that.... After a few minutes, she wrote her answer down on a scrap piece of paper and waited.

After the announcement, people had started worriedly whispering amongst themselves "Does it mean that we'll die if all seven points are lost???!" "Noooo I don't wanna die!!! Not like Eiji! Not like that!!!" "What should we do!?" "No... I'm gettin outta here. Let's work together to get out of here..." A guy suggested as he borrowed someone's baseball bats. Some horrified girls nearby nodded and gathered around him. "On the count of three, we break the windows and jump out alright?" They nodded. What idiots. This will only end badly. "One...two...THREE!" The guy jumped up with his bat and smashed the corridor windows with the bat, causing lots of window pieces flying everywhere. "Now!" The frantic girls dove for the broken window in a frenzy, trying to get out. Suddenly, the sound of rapid fire filled the air, followed by screams. Misaki quickly threw her desk over on its side before hiding behind it. She was not about to get killed for someone else's idiotic mess. "Oh gosh...!" While she couldn't see the full scene, she watched as people not even involved fell to their bloody demise. Screams and tears and panic and anger was filling the room fast. "No! Kari-chan no... Im going to KILL YOU YOU MURDERER!!! f***ING A*****E!" Her boyfriend yelled angrily before grabbing a dead body and running out of her line of sight. Somewhat smart move, though rude to the dead. However, she heard the sound of an exploding body and then he was no more. Her eyes scanned the room (at least, what she could see of it), wondering if there anything she could do to help people. After all, helping is a great way to get favors and seeing how this game is going, she'll need them. "Argh!!!!" She heard Miyu cry as she crumbled to the floor. "Miyu!" Mao yelled as she crawled towards her, avoiding the random fire. "You alright?" The girl winced in pain as she held onto her leg. Perfect. Misaki immediately crawled over (thank god they sat by each other) , leaned over and whispered to the two, "Don't move." Out of nowhere, the voice boomed, "For those of you here right now, I still have not graded all the answers yet. However, Miyu has committed yet another rule infraction, and will receive another 1 point penalty." The voice paused. "I wonder if you'll survive by the end of the third day..." Again with the point infraction? What rule did she break? "Let me see that.." Misaki said as she tried to pull up the wounded girl's skirt to see the wound, though had her hand pushed away. "It's okay, thanks Misaki-chan," Miyu replied, teeth clenched. "The bullet shot through my leg. So it's okay. It will heal." "Rather than this, I'm more worried about the situation." she muttered. Sometime during the commotion, Hakuyan had joined them and after a while, it stopped. Misaki let out a shaky breath, one she hadn't realized she was holding. Finally, it was safe. Or rather, as safe as it could be. As she stood up, she took a look at the carnage. Multiple dead bodies, all riddled with gun shot wounds. Taking a glance at Miyu, she could see the girl going pale, likely from the loss of blood. So she went over to nearest dead body, saying quietly, "I apologize for ripping your clothes, but it's necessary. Thank you for your contribution." before ripping part of the skirt off. She then got the first aid kit from the closet making her way to the small girl and said to Hakuyan, "Hold her arms, would you? She won't get any medical help otherwise." With a nod, he did as requested. "H-Hey!" Miyu yelled. "I said-" "It'll get infected if you don't," she interrupted, getting annoyed at this girl. It was for her wellbeing, so she should except it graciously. Especially since it was her who was giving the medical attention! "If you don't get killed by everything else, you'll die from that. Now please stop complaining and let me do this." Without another word, she got out the disinfection liquid from the first aid kit, pushed up the girl's skirt (just high enough so that she could get to the wound without her pervert of a boyfriend seeing anything) and with no warning, poured it onto the wound. The girl yelped in pain, jumping in her seat a bit. Afterwards, she took the piece of skirt she had ripped off and wrapped it around her leg. Misaki tightly knotted it before saying, "There. All done."

"It seems this puzzle is a little too easy. Hmmm. But I don't mind." The voice commented, sounding amused. "Miyu, Hiragi, Hakuyan, and Rose. You have lost 1 point due to breaking a rule. Trust me, you do not want to lose 7 points. You have 6 points left." Misaki could see the surprised looks on the named faces and to be honest, she was a little surprised too. As far as she could tell, they had done nothing wrong. Yet again, she was unaware of the rules so there was no way for sure for her to know if they had done anything wrong. Well, at least I didn't do anything wrong. I should keep it up...

"A-a-alright, everyone. Lets...um...lets...." Misaki watched as the class rep desperately tried to restore order throughout the classroom. After a few minutes, Hakuyan jumped up on the nearest desk and shouted above the clamor, "Hey everybody! SHUT UP!" The classroom fell silent with the exception of a few whimpers. "Now class rep, what were you trying to say?" he asked. "Er...I just, um, thought, m-maybe we should use the b-b-buddy...system?" "Alright, you guys heard her! Buddy system, now! The one we use for emergencies!" "What the hell, man?! Nobody cares about some buddy system, we're all gonna die! We're all gonna end up like Eiji over there!" Hakuyan winced but countered. "We need to think rationally about this! Now grab your partner! It's better than sitting down and waiting to die! After you have your partner, write down your answers on a piece of paper and place it on the desk, like Miyu did! Got it?!" He jumped down as people started shuffling around before heading over to her. He was her partner after all and she wasn't going to come to him. "Hey," he said. Misaki gave a smile. "Hi." "Let's do this, shall we?" He ripped out some notebook paper and wrote down his answer before placing it in the teacher's desk. Their teacher had gone to the staff lounge soon after the announcements about the research challenge was made, leaving them alone. While he was gone, she listened to what others were saying. "H-hey, what do you think it is?" "Uh, 3, I guess?" "Yeah, 5 subtract 2 is 3, right?" "So," Hakuyan said, apparently back from setting his paper on the teacher's desk, "What answer did you give?" Without a word, she flashed her answer before folding it back up and placing it back on her desk. "What about you?" she asked.

"Well well! We are glad to announce that for this year's research challenge, one of the teams in our class took the first place! I know everyone knows who they are! Come on up Misaki and team!" Misaki graced the class with one of her photo-worthy smiles as she made her way up to the front of the classroom, teammates close behind. She had known they would win. It was obvious. With her as team leader, it was only inevitable. Though she knew all eyes were on her (after all, why wouldn't they?), she could feel Hakuyan leering. It was nothing new, but still it annoyed her. My face is up here jackass. She sent him a discreet but pointed glare his way. "Miyu-chan, don't just sit there, come on up and receive your certificate!" the teacher added as she received her certificate. The small girl paused for a second before going up. She could see the disapproving looks on several of her female classmates' face as Miyu shuffled her way up to the front of the class. People can be so petty. Being annoyed with someone when it's out of their power. ~~~~~ "... And then I was all like, 'screw off!'" The group erupted in laughter at the funny story, Misaki included even though she didn't quite see the humor in it. Suddenly, the doors slam shut, the sound of locks clicking following afterwards, while all the windows close. Everyone was looking around in confusion while a few of them try to open the doors and the windows. They didn't open. She could see the panic rise in everyone, though she stayed calm. Panic will not make you smarter. It'll likely make you dumber. So keep calm Misaki. Keep calm. “Hello, everyone. No, escape is useless,” a deep voice boomed as a few students attempted to break the windows or tear down the doors. “You cannot escape from this classroom, which will now become your prison. Unless, you win my game.” Nervous chatter filled the room. One student proclaimed, “F**k you, man!” Without warning, he exploded. His remains flung all over the place, a few drops of blood flying onto her face, frozen in shock. Keep calm keep calm keep calm. As she wiped the red liquid off her face, the voice said, “The game has already begun." “Fine, we’ll play your game. What are your rules?” someone asked. The voice chuckled as it replied, “There are rules...but I cannot tell them to you. Good luck to all of you.” With that, the screen scrolled down and from the projector, the series of words appeared. "1) If there are five apples and you take away 2, how many do you have?" Misaki studied the words, thinking it through. Riddles were never her strong suit, though it looks like they'll have to become one. After a few minutes of mulling it over, she wrote down her answer and waited.