#heraid

It had started innocently enough.

She was just a girl. A frail, shy young woman he'd gone to high school with several years ago. She seemed just as meek now as she had the last time he saw her, during class 77s graduation. Even then, he was well aware of her beauty. But now, it made him do a double take.

Mikan Tsumiki hadn't crossed the anthropologists mind much since she left Hope's Peak. Although, that was nothing out of the ordinary for Korekiyo. He didn't get attached. It was rare he spared a thought for his own past classmates these days. Many of them were still close friends. Some had genuinely considered Korekiyo a friend. He appreciated the sentiment, but forming bonds with others wasn't something he particularly enjoyed. People were temporary. People could hurt you. People could die.

Now that he had been done with school for a couple of years, he'd had plenty of time to travel and immerse himself in different cultures with no worries about deadlines. His recent travels included Spain, China (one of his favorites that he had already visited several times), and a small rural village somewhere in Latin America where he had participated in a festival with the locals and taken many photos for the scrapbook he was working on. Yes, this life was far more suited to him than one filled with forming bonds. Never again would he let someone toy with him like she had. He would not even chance it.

These were the very thoughts on Korekiyo's mind as he stepped out of his favorite local bakery, tiny paper bag of Russian tea cakes in hand. A guilty pleasure treat of his, much needed after the day he'd had.

He wasn't sure what came over him then. Normally, he was purely an observer, a watcher of humanity. He did not like to interfere, to entangle himself in the web of other peoples lives. Unless it had to do with anthropology, he rarely went out of his way to speak with others unless they approached him.

But there was something about that girl.

That girl.

That damn deceiving girl with her mask of innocence.

What else was he to do but help when suddenly, the only girl to ever make him turn his head was sprawled on the pavement in front of him after taking quite a tumble? She was like a helpless little lamb..

"Oh, dear.." Korekiyo spoke softly from behind his mask, leaning down and extending a hand toward her to offer his support. "It's been a while. I'm sorry we must meet again under these circumstances."

Movie night with the whole class seemed like a boring idea to Nagito.

Was he really expected to be quiet for that long?

But he agreed to come because it made him so happy to be wanted there. He had ended up seated between Hajime and Mikan. His attention was fixed on the former, as per usual, movie completely ignored. But the other man paid him no attention, save for an uncomfortable glance every now and then.

He sighed, eventually just leaning back in his chair with his arms folded, having given up on receiving Hajime's affections. But then.. he felt a light pressure on his shoulder.

Nagito turned his head slightly, face heating up when he realized the nurse had fallen asleep and seemed to be using him as a pillow. His body relaxed some and he couldn't help but smile to himself.

          the final wick of numerous staged candles met carefully with a match. their original labels have since then been scrawled and corroded by neglect of the handler - he'd simply forgotten about them in a box at the furthest corner of his lair. these candles in particular were made specifically with natural oils to alleviate stress and anxiety; a very potent scent for the mind and body of anyone in close proximity. he'd also set up a few patchouli incense sticks on auto burners for good measure. so .. why was Kokichi transforming his personal space into an aromatherapy chamber? well you see: he's expecting a very important guest this evening. precisely one week ago, a hand-written invitation adorned within a purple satin, wax sealed envelope was delivered to a doorstep drop box addressed to the ultimate nurse herself. presentation was important, and the goal here was to arouse attention - a plain white envelope was, well.. just plain boring! jabbing the bell multiple times then making a run for it to hide, he made sure to stick around and watch her open it. once the humble receiver retreats back inside her quarters, the supreme leader's plan was now set in motion: it's time to make preparations.

          a lack of overhead lighting was made up for with each lit cylinder of wax. he polished and dolled up a floor level table surrounded by cushions, even a fancy-looking tea set upon the sizeable furniture. the largest pot contains an herbal brew of chamomile and lavender; yet another remedy to soothe whoever may consume it. as soon as the ceramic vessel for raw honey was set, the buzzer to his lair was triggered: someone was requesting entry. he'd stay put at the very center as the mechanical door slides open, closing abruptly behind his guest. with arms open wide in a welcoming allure, Kokichi is exaggeratingly delighted with the appearance before himself.

    “Mikan!” Joyously, Sonia cried out to get her dear friend’s attention. Since they returned to Jabberwock Island, their life could be described as idyllic. Tucked away from the world’s prying eyes, they could live the rest of their lives without despair. “Want to help me plan for the ultimate sleepover? Girls only, of course!” The princess thought they deserved some bonding time without duress. Something that they hadn’t had since their school days. Before the tragedy that had overtaken their lives.

From the very beginning, Makoto knew that Tsumiki Mikan was going to be the easiest target in his senior class. Her incredibly low self-esteem and need for attention would make her easy to manipulate - and indeed, she was the first to fall. When she first became his accomplice, he would just have her do some minor jobs for him here and there, mostly gathering information about her classmates and such for him to use later... But now, he thought she was ready for something a little bigger. A little more hands-on.

"I have something very important for you to do today, Tsumiki!" He smiles at her, clasping one of her hands in his own. "You see, in the other room, we have someone with important information about the Kamukura project... You remember me telling you about that, right? Well, I want you to help me get information from them! I figure that with your medical knowledge, you'll be able to assure that they won't die before we get what we need from them..."

Of course, he could do this on his own, if he wanted to. But he needed to test what she was capable of doing to someone she didn't know before he could trust her to do anything to her own classmates. Plus, like he said - her medical knowledge would be helpful, surely.

"Ah..." It was entirely her own fault, and Rio should have known better. Normally, she was careful enough, but today's circumstances were unusual. She'd received a call early in the morning from one of her research colleagues, explaining a situation to her in a panicked voice. As she understood it, there was supposed to have been a flight to Australia taking a number of birds for a conservation exchange, and her colleague had brought them from the other side of Japan.

Unfortunately, the flight was cancelled, and on such short notice, there wasn't anywhere to keep the birds until tomorrow. Rio, at least, had some space at her lab, and the opportunity to look at birds she seldom saw was hard to pass up. On the other hand, a convention was streaming a panel she was interested in, and she didn't want to miss it. It made her sloppy and lazy, a bit more interested in finishing up her intake inspections early and running back to her room to watch her panel.

And now her arm was dripping blood on the laboratory floor, slashed open by the razor-sharp nail of a dwarf cassowary. Rio guessed she was lucky - if it had been one of the other cassowary species, it could have killed her for being so careless. To its credit, as well, the bird seemed about as aghast as a bird could be, having backed up pitifully and made itself small. She always tried to keep from anthropomorphizing the animals too much, but this one really did look like it felt bad.

"It's fine," she said in a weak voice, trying not to think of the pain shooting up her arm. "Sorry for startling you. Now, let's get you settled in the enclosure with some food and water, and it'll all be okay." With her priorities aligned in such a way that others might call skewed or perhaps very unwise, she led the bird back to the room, laid out some food and water, and made sure it was calmed down and wouldn't start tearing out its own feathers in stress. That wouldn't look good at all, and she really was grateful for the opportunity to look after it.

Only after the cassowary was settled did Rio look to her arm. Having defensively held her hands up, one of her forearms was cut pretty bad. "Not good..." Taking off her t-shirt and just buttoning her jacket to the top, she wrapped it around the cut to try and keep from bleeding everywhere. But, this was the sort of thing that someone should take a look at, right? It wasn't something she could just hold a t-shirt against and go back upstairs, and let it heal up on its own.