Day 5: (Ab)normal Days

Adda woke up from her light sleep, having rolled away from both her pillow and blanket in the middle of the night. She stood up groggily, and looked over to Marci.

"Guess we should get moving then?" She asked, unsure if her friend was even awake.

She sat up and yawned, looking over to Adda who was looking back at her. She had a feeling she was being addressed, but she was too tired to figure it out.

"...one more time?" she said sheepishly.

Adda chuckled.

"There's a meeting, so I guess we should hustle down to the auditorium, right? Don't wanna be last."

"Aw come on, it can't be that big. Et won't fit in there, mate." Herbert scratched his beard, shrugging at his companion across the lunchtable. "An' it can't have that big of a load, ah mean that's just not feasible. No way no how."

At the announcement, he suddenly tensed, surprised. "Damn. Wit all this talk about...well, yannow, ah didn't know we passed that much toime."

Herbert stood, stretching himself out. He was a bit sore from what he was doing in the late night, and he didn't want to feel like a limp rag all day.

"Right now?" Eloise blurted out, shutting her book closed. Monobear sure was being prompt today.

She sighed and looked at her student ID, despite the fact the time had just been spoken aloud for the entire school to hear. The night went pretty fast.
Her load was a bit much and she almost wanted to visit her room first. She stuffed as many of the snacks into her pockets that could fit and piled the rest on top of two books.

Should I even take it? Eloise wondered, staring at one of the books. She put it at the bottom of the pile and hefted it out of the room and towards the auditorium. At least it wasn't a fishtank.

Laura drifted back out of sleep at the announcement and tried to lift herself out of bed. The pain in her leg as she tried to balance herself on it stopped her. "Nope. Still a katawa shoujo," she grumbled, then reached for her crutches leaning against her nightstand. "Do I need to shower today?" she mused, then shook her head and made for the door.

"I guess I can't really count on Ash giving me lifts to the meetings anymore, huh," she said as she stepped into the hallway.

"Dude, it's gotta be GIGANTIC, or else it won't have any impact at ALL." He rolled his eyes and grinned at the other.

He grinned a bit. "And if we even figured out how to DO this in here, it better be fun, or I'm quittin' this fiasco."

He flinched at the announcement and listened carefully, standing up when it was over. "Er, we should probably get going. Nice conversation. Real dude moment."

"Ah, okay, thanks. That sounds like a good idea." she said as she got out of bed, trying to recall what the bear said.

"...right now, he said? We don't have time to get ready?" She sighed and looked at her messy hair in her mirror, then shrugged. "let's go, then."

Adda turned to Marci, gathering up her pillow and blanket.

"Well, I'm gonna get a head start- I need to drop my stuff off at my room!" She smiled and then left the dorm, walking quickly to her room, dropping her things on her bed, and heading down the hall to wait at the stairs.

She watched her friend leave and quickly made herself look slightly better than she previously did and headed out to the hallway where Adda was standing.

"Let's go." she said as she started to walk down with Adda in tow. "...You know, I'm not sure if it's a good or a bad thing that I don't need the map to help me around anymore." she said absently as she reached the bottom of the staircase.

"Are you kidding me? How...?" Herbert sighed, starting to walk towards the door.

"Ah guess it was just a nice little fantasy we had." He shrugged, pushing the door open. "I doubt we have the means to do it either. Monobear probably won't let us."

Might as well have breakfast now, if they weren't going to the cafeteria.

Eloise ripped open one of the bags of pretzels, moving the books to under her arm. She ended up having to pour them into her mouth ungracefully, but if she didn't eat now she might not have the appetite later. Was this how Laura felt multitasking while on crutches?

She reached the auditorium and stepped in.

Adda nodded as she followed.

"I agree, but... even when we first got here, it all felt oddly...familiar, I guess. Like, I didn't know my way around, but the routes all felt familiar." As she said this, they arrived at the auditorium. She held open the door for her friend and smiled.

Laura continued slowly down the stairs. She was completely sick of being on crutches. They were inconvenient and make her arms feel numb at the end of the day. Worst of all, as long as she had them she couldn't entertain thoughts of murdering one of her classmates even if she wanted to.

From the bottom of the stairs, Laura turned to the right and let herself into the auditorium, taking a seat near the front. She wouldn't have done so normally, but she knew it was where Asher would have sat.

"Yeah. I'm not sure Monobear would appreciate it at all. I just get the feeling," He followed after Herbert casually and walked out the door he was holding open, "that it wouldn't be tolerated, either. It's kinda against the unwritten rules, ya know?"

She walked in, nodding as Adda spoke. "Same here, actually. Especially my room. It just...it felt like my room back at home, for whatever reason!" she shrugged and laughed off the silly thought. She sat down in the middlemost row, leaving a spot next to her for Adda.

Eloise took a seat, in the middle, behind Laura.

She had spent the entire night trying to find someone to talk to, and it felt like she had just found the last person alive.
"Pretzel?" Starting a conversation would be difficult considering the circumstances, but there was no way she could go wrong with food.

Adda followed in after Marci, sliding in next to her.

"The rooms especially, yeah! They're just so personalized!"

Herbert nodded, falling silent as he made his way through the hall and into the auditorium, taking his usual place in the back and near the door. He didn't care if David split with him now. These meetings always never went well.

Laura turned around in her seat to face Eloise. She blinked at her, unsure of how to respond. "S-sure. Thanks," she said, holding out her hand. "Wonder what this'll be about, right? Hopefully not another reason to commit murder."

The overwhelming urge to apologize to Laura flooded over Eloise. She was the one to find the decisive evidence, but if there was evidence to be found how could she be blamed?
"I really, really wouldn't be surprised," she sighed, "Wouldn't be a field trip, would it?"

He ran after Herbert and walked into the auditorium briskly, realizing he was the last one. He was getting more used to being late for whatever reason - he didn't really mind.

He sat down in the back row and waited for whatever the bear wanted to tell them.

Monobear stood with his back to the students, and when everyone settled in he spun around in a manner he found dramatic.

"Once again, good morning! I'm sure after yesterday you're all starving!" He raised a paw to his mouth, laughing silently.

"Well, I've got good news and bad news, though I'm sure you'll think the opposite of me! Honestly, I'm such a nice bear- letting you all live after a trial is nice enough, but I also give you new places to explore! You know, that just makes my job harder! Eh... but you all seem to like it. Anyways, If you turn your attention to you student IDs, you have even more rooms to explore!"



"Nobody got to look around yesterday, so I suggest you get on that! As for the other news... I've got a motive! Now,you might think it's too soon, but you might want to think long and hard on this one. " He raised his arms high and smiled.

"Anyone who kills can ask me any one question! And since I'm feeling especially nice, you can ask it even if you're caught!" He laughed.

"So, think long and hard on this. The question can be about anything! Inside or outside, me or you! The possibilities are endless."

He lept from the stage, much like a small child.

"That's it! I'll see you all the next time a body surfaces- unless anyone makes a rucuss, that is! Don't forget I'm still the headmaster, even if I'm this cute!"

With that, he sat down on the edge of the stage to watch as the students left.

Herbert blinked.

A question. A single question, even if they got caught. "Bullshit!" he yelled, slowly standing up with a sour look on his face. "Ah ain't committin' no suicide when ah can find wot ah want witout dying!"

With a small humph, he stormed out of the room, aiming for the stairs.