>>5026018
welcome back more importantly it s all ok right now ?

>Why isn’t she here anyways? Look for Chiharu.

>>5026018
>>Last person you saw was Closet, but obviously neither her or Hugo’s around. See just what happened to them.

>>5026018
>Why isn’t she here anyways? Look for Chiharu.

>>5026046
I'm fine, though I dozed off waiting for a tie breaking vote. Kinda bad, making me look like I ditched already.
I wanted to run yesterday but I ran into network issues. They're resolved, and I'm gonna work on the update now that I'm awake.

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>>5026018
Settling on finding Tanabe Chiharu, you depart from the room. With the memory still fresh in mind, and events prior to the timeskip unknown to you, a follow up from her would be ideal right about now. After all, she was that Hostile Mob’s original target, and asked you for help then. Would it be strange to bring this up now after it’s long past? Yes, but She seemed to have appreciated the state you were in, putting you to work just as she desired.
As for why she wasn’t around, it could just be as simple as her having something more essential to do. No reason to consider that another event would’ve happened so soon, with the culprit behind the first time fading to nothingness. A few steps out in the halls, the little direction you had towards her whereabouts fizzle out, but among the few Mobs out and about along with in the halls, as well as all the others remaining in their rooms, Chiharu would be a definite standout, thanks in part to her Cast status.

Strolling along, Chiharu was there, going along her own way. This should be one of the ways toward the SC room, so her other business has concluded. Instead of the stern face you’ve come to expect with your antics, was instead a calmer, more approachable look. A wee bit wary at you coming to her, a remark soon follows, initiating the conversation herself.
>”Ah, Minoru-kun. Is… something wrong?”
Hesitation. Previous interactions between the two of you had her bold, confident, but not this. Whether or not this was the result of what you endured for her or something else could only be revealed with further inquiries.
“No. All the papers back there are done and filed away. Just looking for you actually.”

1/2

[Tiredness isn't helping my speed or proficiency. That aside, I have portraits of characters to use now instead of the few pieces I've used for them in the last thread. If a character looks different from that, it's not going to be a point that they've changed appearances. I've simply been able to present how I thought they were in my mind better. Thanks Picrew.]

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>>5026639
>”Oh? What for exactly?”
“I just wanted to talk, about a few days ago.”
Her eyes dart away, but only for a moment. Resolved, she resumes eye contact, able to come out with what she wanted to say.
>”Listen, I’ll apologize for that. For me to intrude on your privacy in light of knowing your circumstances was wrong, unbefitting of the behavior I should be presenting as the President. Shutting me out with only a seldom few words said wasn’t unreasonable of you.”
Roll with it. Wasn’t what you wanted to talk about, but this is a rarity to savor, her apologizing for something. Taking away from this was that you weren’t receptive to much conversation before now. Did she try to apologize earlier?

“Apology accepted. I guess I shouldn’t have led you around the way I did either. Tuckered you out and all.”
>”…Shut up. Anyone would be tired from working so hard anyways.”
>”If you ever trust me again, please just tell me where is it you stay at. No idea where or what Hugo's place is.”
She walks off, a little more red than she started this with. Recalling that was obviously embarrassing, and that last statement was enough for a conclusion. She forgot about what happened then. She doesn’t know where Hugo is, nor what his place was called, eliminating her not knowing where it relocated to.

Convenient? A little, but who could’ve done a memory wipe? Hugo and Closet don’t seem to have it in their skill set, nor a good reason to. The world, while it did it for Masaru’s existence, couldn’t have, for the simple fact a Mob, controlled by it, was attacking her to begin with.
Racking your mind, no culprit reveals itself to mind. Someone new could now be involved.
It just hit you. Kun. The rank hasn’t changed a bit, but it’s a demotion nonetheless. Who else to catch up with now?

>Hugo and Closet. See if they’ve noticed something of importance
>Homeroom to Ayumi and Hiroki. Time to see just what happened to him.
>Kameyo, the librarian. She's interested in the world's mystery, and it might need to be curved for her own safety.

>>5026641
Oh fuck, Chiharu's going from tsun to dere. That's a bad sign, because it makes us closer to being a main character, and main characters are the people all the horrible shit happens to.
>Homeroom to Ayumi and Hiroki. Time to see just what happened to him.

>>5026559
That s good. Also the portraits look nice.

>>5026641
>>Homeroom to Ayumi and Hiroki. Time to see just what happened to him.

>>5026641
>Homeroom to Ayumi and Hiroki. Time to see just what happened to him.

>>5026018
I didn't realize this was back. Didn't check the board for most of the day, feel foolish for missing out on it earlier, now. It's great to see you again. This is a neat quest and I'm glad you're in a position to spend time on it again.

>>5026641
>>Homeroom to Ayumi and Hiroki. Time to see just what happened to him.

>>5026641
>Homeroom to Ayumi and Hiroki. Time to see just what happened to him.
Good to see this back, wasn't here for the first thread but read the archive.

I'm not sure if I should hate my boss for calling me in on a super short notice, my coworker for needing to be covered, or myself for failing to notice the post mentioning this didn't go through.
With any luck I'll be able to continue as normal now for real.

>>5030172
Ouch. I'm sorry to hear that, man. Weird accident on your post announcing that not going through, though. Glad to hear you're alright now, at least.

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>>5026641
Going back to class to learn is the normal move, but you’re going back just to check up on Masaru’s friends. There’s nothing much to really learn, and you’d leave if it wasn’t expected of you. Nothing ever happens during then and all the ways to pass the time were exhausted a week ago. Maybe you’ll bail out today if the opportunity presents itself, seeing as you have a couple others to check up on.
Class itself hadn't changed a bit when you arrived, with the mobs pretending to be lively in the vicinity of Ayumi. She’s fine at the moment, and whatever she’s thinking about is keeping her preoccupied, preventing her from noticing you immediately. Hiroki wouldn’t be found in his seat, instead being occupied by a Mob that looks nothing like him. You tried speaking with them, in the event they were just like you, but the conversation consisted of the same canned responses you’ve heard time and time before.

That conversation didn’t last long at all, but it's enough to make your blood run cold while doing so. Icy glares pierce right through you, making it clear that whoever this was watching, wanted to be known. Turning around, the halls and windows are free of any unknown figures, but Ayumi was there, having noticed your arrival. Cheery as ever, the feeling of being watched almost subsided, but you knew better than to completely discard bad premonitions.
>”Minoru-san. How’ve you been doing? We don’t really get to talk as often anymore”
“Good. Council work should be starting to ease up after today.”
>”That means I get to see you more now right? It has been a bit quiet with you around...”

“What do you mean? I’m sure someone like you would have plenty of other friends.”
>“Well, to put it lightly, they’re not you.”
”I’m not Masaru or Hiroki either, and-”
>”And I don’t know who those are or where you’re going with that.”
You wanted to refute that, but having no proof of either of the two, it’d be fruitless to try. Without anyone else around, it just defaults to you, and she has no idea about what’s overcome you the past few days.
Between then and now, a lot has changed, and deciding to be more proactive in figuring out what else is new, you skip out of school, undetected.

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>>5030502
The streets haven’t changed a bit, the layout remaining static. At least navigation wouldn’t be an issue, but knowing your luck, the problem will be with the destination. That destination being N/V, where you hope to get a better idea or something. Not where you last remember it, you look it up on your phone, but it isn’t anywhere at all. Giving Closet a call, you wait as the phone rings, but nothing. She didn’t or couldn’t pick up, but either way, the two aren’t around to be found.

Great, you’re alone and have nowhere to stay. Truth be told, you don’t really need to eat, drink or sleep, but you want to regardless. Yeah, Chiharu was an option, but you’d only play that card when you absolutely needed to. The old place is likely still inaccessible, so maybe you could just sleep in the school itself.
Now wandering alone, you just wonder what to do right now and in the long term. You found Masaru, but there’s little sense of what his goals are. Learning more of the world hasn’t been doing much good without a way to manipulate it independently, and finally, the possibility of someone new going around as they please had to be investigated. Not a strong direction, but one you’ll take. Of course you didn’t forget about Nanashi, hoping that her unique status left her unaffected by any radical alterations, but that still has to wait till later tonight.

Again with this icy feeling, coming from right behind you. With school still in session, the possibility of this being a student is discounted in favor of assuming this to be the new figure you were just wondering about. The sidewalk empty of bystander Mobs, nobody would be around to witness if anything happens, as last time. Of course, a little part of you wanted to ignore this for now, having just come back, but sooner or later you'd need to figure out who this was.

>Take it a try, and see who this is. They could be harmless in comparison to a hostile mob.
>Listen to your gut and just lose it. No backup would come this time.

[I swear it's easier to write in the post box than it is in a proper text editor.]

>>5030511
>Take it a try, and see who this is. They could be harmless in comparison to a hostile mob.

Either it's going to attack us or it isn't. Ignoring it doesn't help us any, it wouldn't be watching us in the first place if it didn't know we were an anomaly in the system. It's possible that it has some "can only attack if target acknowledges its presence" deal going on, but I'm willing to gamble on that not being the rules it works by.

>>5030511
>Take it a try, and see who this is. They could be harmless in comparison to a hostile mob.

>>5030511
>Take it a try, and see who this is. They could be harmless in comparison to a hostile mob

>>5030511
>>Take it a try, and see who this is. They could be harmless in comparison to a hostile mob.

>>5030502
Wait did she just say she doesn t know who is Masaru and Hiroki ? that s bad, we need to be more on guard, if someone else gets taken there could be another memory loss. And it seems she only has us now. Perhaps we should talk with Ayumi in private and verify if she actually doesn't remember anything, or if she does and was faking it.
We need to check on the school library girl too, with a full conversation if possible.

Just a heads up the QM has been hospitalized. I was told by this by his co-QM.

>>5033367
Oh god. Well, that's horrible to hear. Do you know the cause for their hospitalization?

>>5033367
Ah fuck, I hope he's okay and will recover quickly.

>>5033367
Poor qm, tell him we will wait for him regardless. Thks for informing us.

>>5033476
Hope he gets better

>>5033367
yikes hope its nothing too serious

>>5033367
Did Masaru attack him? Oh no, QM's going to get unpersoned

I'm a friend of the QM, the one who he says helps out from time to time.
He's recovering fine enough but I can't elaborate on what exactly ails him since its medically compromising, to put it nicely.
Now that I remembered that I was unbanned, I'm supposed to take over to lead the thread to its close, or he comes back, whichever comes first.
How can I prove any of this? I can log into the pastebin, and that's just going to be enough. I have an idea of where he wanted to take the story but otherwise I'm actually free to improvise and do whatever.
Anyways I'll continue this tomorrow, or later today since its already past midnight on my end.

>>5030511
Putting this off won’t make it any safer, and this feeling ever so comfortable. It’s coming from right behind and a quick turnaround shows, nothing. It wasn’t going to be that easy, but anything worthwhile wouldn’t be to begin with. Think, if you were following someone here, you’d try to be above them or just off the side on another route. No known way to get up to the rooftops, but a quick look confirms that the skies are clear.

At this point it’s clear you’re searching for your stalker, and whatever they had in response should be known to you by now. What you expected was them to back off or keep watching, confident in their concealment . A dart races through the air, hitting you square on with both a payload and the realization that you were wrong. Already you feel its effects, growing weaker already. Turning to where it came from, you can barely make out the assailant with your vision blurring in and seeing stars all around. What was made out was the fact that they definitely have your school uniform on, and that they’re scurrying away in a hurry. It’s likely that they’ve had another effect in mind when they injected you with this, and thought you were about to give chase. If only they knew you weren’t in the condition to do so.

Still, you’re still not feeling any better at all, even with the dart out of your body. Whoever’s following you is a fellow student, or at least able to pass as one. They’ve got no problem running out of class to follow you, so maybe they’re aware, and prepared, having drugs on hand to attempt incapacitating you. It didn't work, but you don't want to stand around and let them know that now.

>Go back to around your old place. You're not expected to be there anymore.
>Return to school, might be the last place they'd look to find you.
>Finally stay with Chiharu. Safety, hopefully, in numbers.

>>5051820
>Return to school, might be the last place they'd look to find you.

>>5051820
>>Go back to around your old place. You're not expected to be there anymore.


>>5051369
thanks for telling, i hope he has a good recovery

>>5051820
>Return to school, might be the last place they'd look to find you.

>>5051820
>Return to school, might be the last place they'd look to find you.

>>5051820
They followed you from the school, and expected to see you go elsewhere. Premonition no longer withstanding, being watched at this moment isn’t an issue. But where were you gonna go now? You’re in no condition to be looking for anything like this, and options for sanctuary are low, leading you back to school. The fact that you’ve haven’t felt like being followed again could mean a lot, so hopefully they aren’t being more discreet about this and instead assumed where you were gonna go instead.

By the time you arrived at school, dismissal rolled by, and nobody would’ve minded a student walking right in. Reentry not being an issue, focusing instead on where you’re gonna give out at. The obvious answer would be at the nurse’s office, but you’re not sure where that was, if there is one to begin with. Hands fumbling about with the doors as you try finding somewhere to be, a random closet ending up your spot of choice. Sliding right down the wall and onto floor, whatever was circulating within you better not have been poison.

You got better, without struggling much to stay awake. Exiting, the time that seemed to pass was an hour or so from dismissal. Mobs sparsely populate the building, indicating that someone is still at school. Wouldn’t be long until you found who could it be. A red blazer with gold trimmings, a crest you don’t recognize, and an armband not too dissimilar to yours or Chiharu’s. She’s a Council member of another school, and someone you don’t recognize at all. Black Twintails accessorized by a pink hair clip and bands with red eyes. Definitely too ornate to be a mere mob, but recalling that gallery you saw before, she wasn’t present.
Having noticed you as well in the halls, she approaches. You are a council member yourself after all, so she’d expect help from you.
>”Ah. Greetings.”
>”Would you be so kind as to direct me towards Tanabe-san? I came here to meet with her today.”
Normally, you’d follow through with the request with little question, but someone new showing up just as you were being stalked was just a bit too convenient. For all you know, that bag of hers contains a disguise or those drugs used earlier.

>Oblige. No need to be paranoid.
>Stall around and see how she reacts.
>Lie and claim she went home already.

>>5052763
>Oblige. No need to be paranoid.
The things that stalk us usually aren't good at being a person. It should probably be fine.

>>5052763
>Oblige. No need to be paranoid.

>>5052763
>>Oblige. No need to be paranoid.

I've been spending time today prepping for a con I'll be attending over the weekend starting next week Friday. Doubt that I could post on those days, but here's today's or rather, yesterday's update.

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>>5052763
A coincidence just isn’t enough to base any suspicions on. If Chiharu knew she had a meeting, she should still be at school waiting around for it. Of course that leads to another question as to why isn’t she here to lead this student around, especially since she was from another school. Instead of asking yourselves these questions, asking this girl some new ones would be more useful.
“You’re looking for our President? I’ll be happy to lead you to her, but if you don’t mind me asking, what business do you have with her? I’m on the council myself.”
>”Thank you. I’m here on behalf of Makishima Academy.”
>”I’m not sure if I should tell you what exactly if you don’t know. Wouldn’t be my place to do so if she hasn’t told you herself.”
You don’t remember if she ever did, and obviously events during the timeskip are unknown to you.
“Well, I’ll just ask her myself. Come, I’ll take you with me then.”

You head off towards the Council room, with her trailing behind you. Breaking up the monotony, you introduce yourself, since she neglected to do that with herself.
“We haven’t introduced ourselves yet. I’m Asa Minoru. Student Council Vice President.”
>”Sorry for forgetting my manners. Kurokawa Naoko. Council President.”
“Aw, you’re superior to me. I suppose I should’ve ascertained as much with how well-spoken you’ve been.”
So she’s Naoko. The resemblance to Masaru is barely there, but then again he has no face. Ayumi forgot about him, and following that trend, so should she. There’s also the matter of that other girl you saw in that Gallery, but deliberating her identity can wait.

Coming up to the destination, you ask her to wait outside should she not be inside and check for Chiharu. She’s there, tidying up the room.
“Chiharu-san, someone’s here for us.”
>”Naoko’s here? Then it’s just for me.”
“Huh? I’m on the council too. What’s this about?”
Chiharu breaks out her smuggest look you’ve seen yet.
>”Hmph. It’s going to be a surprise for both of our schools, at least to the student body.”
“So I see how it is… I’m gone then.”
You let yourself out, and let Naoko in, with Chiharu ensuring that you’ve left and not eavesdropping on the door. You were planning on eavesdropping from elsewhere, but then Kameyo passed through the hall, engrossed in a book and completely oblivious to your presence. She's heading out the nearest exit, likely having finished her extracurriculars.

>Speak with Kameyo. It has been a while since you've last spoke.
>Eavesdrop on the meeting. Don't you have a right to know?

>>5053674
>Eavesdrop on the meeting. Don't you have a right to know?

>>5053674
>>Eavesdrop on the meeting. Don't you have a right to know?

>>5053674
>Eavesdrop on the meeting. Don't you have a right to know?

>>5053674
>>Eavesdrop on the meeting. Don't you have a right to know?

>>5053674
Peering through the window, the second story view here allowed you to easily identify Kameyo as she walked off. Next, leaning out to the side, you can see the curtains are drawn over the Council room, meaning this course of action was viable. Chiharu shooed you off the door, so instead you went into a neighboring classroom and hoped to overhear something through the walls. Failing to hear anything, a glance at the window gave you this idea. The ledge provided ample room to shimmy over provided that you leave your bag behind. Opening the window, you navigated over and pressed closely.

You couldn’t make out the conversation line for line, but keywords caught your attention. Festival. Invitation. Accompanied. Soon? Was that what all the papers you did were for? You’ll take a look later, but with the position getting more and more uncomfortable, you return inside, but stopping you from contemplating what you just learned was the theft of your bag. It’s gone, and nobody was around when you entered here, that much was certain. You must’ve been followed, and they simply kept you from noticing. You kept the wallet and phone on your person, but everything else is in their hands.

You left the room immediately, and focused on just moving about. It didn’t feel safe to just stand around thinking what to do next. What was worrying was the contents of the notebook and what might happen regarding it. Hugo said long ago that his attempts to convince someone of the world around them ended with Mobs turning hostile, and this could be another one of those situations. Again, it’s just writings with no proof behind them, but those special glasses you kept in there could convince them otherwise. Speaking of evidence, that dart you’ve been hit with is in there, and this stalker could simply be looking to retrieve it, but then why take the entire bag?
A simple possibility was almost overlooked as you brainstormed, and that’s blackmail. While all the irregularities in the notebook can’t be proven, it does contain accounts of places you’ve broken in or otherwise intruded upon, and of people in states of undress. Ok, it’s just Chiharu, but she wouldn’t be happy to know you were aware of her nightly problems as she has kept them from you.

>Get looking for that bag now.
>Rushing off to find it could be what they wanted. Wait for the meeting to end so you can speak with the two Presidents more.

>>5056889
>Get looking for that bag now.

>>5056889
>Rushing off to find it could be what they wanted. Wait for the meeting to end so you can speak with the two Presidents more.

>>5056889
>>Get looking for that bag now.
actually let me change from my previous vote. get the bag back immediately

>>5057246

>>5056889
>Get looking for that bag now.
Uh oh

Once again I have heavily underestimated the Con Crunching.
Monday.

It sounds like I'm just making excuses, but after mulling it over, I've decided on this.
The original QM recovered, but turned the quest over to me, citing it to be bad luck ever since starting. I'm not wholly interested in running this quest full time, as I only expected to be temporary and can't really commit to doing something daily if I didn't start it. So, the quest is forever dead until something changes on both of our ends, but truth be told, this quest is in desperate need of a redo. He won't admit that, but he also threw ideas at the wall hoping it would stick, and I wasn't really helping with that behind the scenes.
Of course, anyone actually interested in this quest rightfully lost hope with the constant flaking and inconsistency, and I'll apologize for that, since it's pure laziness on my part and debating on what to do next with what happened recently.
I would go into the ideas in mind for the quest since the future is bleak but that should be something he should do, just incase if he actually goes with a redo or returns.

>>5067737
A pity. This quest had potential.

>>5067737
Ah it was good while it lasted.

>>5067737
i had fun, what a shame

I’ll restart Born Irrelevant at some point since I made a deal with my friend. I still want to run my own quest idea first so it’ll wait until that finishes. I doubt there’s any overlap in audience with this and my thing so I won’t advertise it when it comes but people could recognize writing styles if they really looked.