[Event AQ] Numb [Demi/Ji-Yoo]

[Demi]

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}{Spoiler}

• FOR A LACK OF FEELING
  How could someone who utterly lacks all passion even have such a drive to destroy?
  • Try to figure out their mindset, understand what their motive is: -1 Guardians, +2 Faberge, -2 Roost
    Discuss with others about what might drive someone to do what they’re doing: +2 Guardians, +2 Faberge, -1 Roost]Decide that they’re lost causes not worth your time: -3 Guardians, +1 Faberge, +2 Roost
    Wonder if they may not be as misguided as they seem: -1 Guardians, -2 Faberge, -1 Roost, +2
  • Requirements: None

It was a weekend, and Demi had asked Ji-Yoo over to see if the other girl wanted to hang out, maybe sleep over for the night or something. It was honestly the first time Demi had ever asked anyone if they wanted to sleep over. Only a couple of people had ever seen her dorm besides Demi herself, and it was something she didn't offer easily or lightly... so she considered it a big step. At least for her, anyway. A step in the right direction, hopefully, of making friends with Ji-Yoo... and possibly learning to trust someone. This was kind of a test as well... so she could figure some mental stuff out.

Either way, she was sitting at her desk, humming softly as she waited for Ji-Yoo to show up. She had one earbud in, listening to music on her pc, and was doodling in a sketch book. Not a particularly good doodle... okay, so it was a horrible doodle... she'd never been good at visual arts. But, she liked drawing, so she did it anyway. "All my friends are heathens take it slow..." she sang softly to herself as the music played, of course, Heathens by Twenty One Pilots. She'd been wanting to see the movie Suicide Squad, which is what the song was for, but she hadn't been able to yet. Some time soon, maybe!

Encore, on the other hand, was sprawled out on Demi's desk taking a nap. The little guardian character was exhausted, she'd done a few exercise routines with Demi last night and now she was extremely sore. Ah yes, that's right... Demi's been exercising more. She'd started disliking not being able to do things, she wasn't strong and she didn't have good stamina... so training was in order. Plus, training for archery, too... that was another big one. Speaking of Archery Club, Demi wondered idly if she could get Ji-Yoo to join...

[Ji Yoo]

Lately, a lot of stuff have been happening. Like the west oto guy coming to Seyio and wrecking havoc and leaving everyone scared out of their wits, Ji-Yoo having a fight with Shun and Yuki, or rather Yuki more than Shun, and getting overall confused about herself. Did she want to fight or did she want to run? Did she want to be friends with the guys or go on with her solitary lifestyle? There were so many things she couldn’t find an answer to. The girl missed the times when her life was much less complicated, when she only had studying. Now that she actually was getting involved with people, Ji-Yoo became full of inner conflicts.

As if on cue to add to her list of inner struggles, she received an invitation from Demi to have a sleep over. At first, she didn’t know what to make of it since she’s never been to one nor had someone who could invite her to one, but then, this was Demi. The only person so far whom she was ok with. She liked that she had been honest with her from the very beginning and that, well, she was really trying to be friends with her. Perhaps Ji-Yoo wasn’t doing much but Demi still held on to the possibility of them being friends. And perhaps that was what she needed, for someone to genuinely want to be around her. So she accepted her offer.

Her mom was so excited about the sleepover, she wouldn’t stop asking Ji-yoo questions about her friend, which the girl didn’t feel like answering. Eventually she was let go of and sent to Demi’s dorm via Okazaki-san, the driver. Ji-Yoo had also avoided telling Kong-Ji about this since she wanted to get to know Demi better without being disturbed by her and Encore. She wanted to talk all about the recent events and hear how Demi felt about them… maybe that was the good part about having a friend. Upon arriving there, she knocked slowly on her door, waiting for an answer.

[Demi]

Soft singing could be heard through the door, but it cut off as soon as the knock was heard. Demi quickly flipped her sketch book closed, opened a drawer, and dropped it inside. She hopped up, then glanced down to herself. She was wearing an oversized t-shirt and a pair of short shorts that were barely visible under the t-shirt but oh well... she was too lazy to wear something that took more effort. She had gone jogging this morning and took a shower when she got done, so she didn't feel like dressing up or anything. Not like Ji-Yoo would mind anyway, she thought.

"Hey- come on in..." She offered, stepping aside to allow Ji-Yoo inside. The dorm was pretty normal, but not very personalized. Well, there were a few things. A few decorations were on her desk and a poster of The Pretty Reckless up on the wall... which basically had Taylor Momsen in risque clothing... but that aside, the room was clean and bare. The only reason Demi had the poster up was because her grandmother wasn't planning on visiting yet. As soon as she did, Demi knew she'd have to hide the poster.

Encore woke up at Ji-Yoo coming over. Sitting up, the fairy yawned softly. "Ji-Yoo-chan?" Encore asked, rubbing her eyes. "Is Kong-Ji-chan with you?" She seemed so sleepy!

[Ji Yoo]

Ji-Yoo thought she heard singing coming from Demi’s room, but as soon as she knocked on the door, it stopped. Perhaps she was listening to music or something. The girl quickly opened the door and Ji-Yoo stepped inside after greeting her. Perhaps she was happier than she thought to see Demi, there were a lot of things she wanted to share, if that was even alright. Ji-Yoo wasn’t used to talking to others, and she still didn’t intend to tell Demi about her more personal dilemmas, but school things were okay to discuss, right?

The girl didn’t pay too much attention to what Demi was dressed. She, herself wore casual clothes, a white shirt with blue stripes and black jeans. Her pajamas were in a small bag that she was carrying, together with bathroom supplies. She also paid no mind to the room, she wasn’t expecting dorm rooms to be very fancy anyways. “So… how come you called me over?” She spoke shyly. This was something that had been bothering her for the past day. No that she minded, but it came very unexpectedly.

Encore seemed to be there and eager to see her little friend, but if she let Kong-Ji out now, there was surely going to be a ruckus since he hadn’t told her about this beforehand. Even so, Ji-Yoo sighed and called out her guardian character. Kong-Ji emerged from her egg and blinked in surprise at the unfamiliar surroundings. However, her worries seemed to have melted away as soon as she saw Demi and Encore. “Encore-chan! Demi-chaaan!”

[Demi]

As Ji-Yoo stepped in, Demi closed the door after her. The lock was put in place, as was habitual for Demi, and she glanced to Ji-Yoo as she moved to sit back down at her desk... turned toward Ji-Yoo so she could talk to her. "I just wanted to hang out..." She shrugged. "That's what friends do, right? Plus... I'm not entirely sure. I've never actually invited anyone over before..." She admitted as she reached up, rubbing the back of her neck a bit. "I thought it might be fun?"

She shifted slightly and moved to push hair out of her face. "You must have, too, if you decided to come." She added. "Also hello Kong-Ji." She greeted the little fluffy guardian character.

Encore woke up faster than she'd ever done before. "Kong-Ji-chan!!" She flew up and over to her buddy and gave her a great big bear hug. "Yayyyyyyy you're here!! We're going to have so much fun! I have an extra futon for you!" Encore was stoked, man. First time having a friend over for her, too!! She was going to have so much fun and Kong-Ji will never want to leave! That was her goal anyway.

"Are you thirsty?" Demi asked suddenly. "I have some sodas and juice and milk and stuff in the fridge..." She gestured to her little mini fridge. She was still forever grateful for having that thing. Her grandmother had bought it for her and had it delivered because she wanted Demi to get the most nutrition she could while being at school and away from home. Demi's mini fridge was usually filled with fresh fruits and vegetables, but she'd added sodas and juice boxes and whatnot for preparation for when Ji-Yoo came over. Okay, so maybe she'd been planning for a bit to ask Ji-Yoo over, but she'd never really had the confidence until before.

[Ji Yoo]

F-friends? could they really be friends now? Even the idea itself made Ji-Yoo happy, although she found it rather hard to admit. She’d had friends before and easily lost them, mostly because of her own incompetence. People came to misjudge her and consider her a stuck-up, although that wasn’t necessarily true. What mattered was that if it were for her to give Demi a chace, she didn’t want to be disappointed again. She didn’t want her trust to be misplaced.

Upon hearing Demi’s reason, Ji-Yoo blushed, a faint smile visible on her face. “I also wanted to hang out with you.” She admitted shyly. Ever since that day in the café, the two didn’t really get to see each other and chat. “This is my first time having a sleep over so…yeah, let’s make it fun.” The girl placed her bag somewhere next to the bed and saw down. The room was small and comfortable, unlike her own. Her whole house was so big, a place she, most of the time, felt wasn’t quite fit for her.

“Some juice would be nice. Also… there was something I wanted to ask you. I’m guessing you’ve heard about those people that threaten to break out heart eggs…” Of course Demi must’ve heard. It’s been quite the hot topic for the past few days. Especially since one of them actually came to Seiyo and completely wrecked the infirmary. “What do you think about them?”

Meanwhile, the two guardians were busy hugging each other and giggling. “Ohh, a futon?” Her already big and sparkly eyes widened. “Are we having a sleepover? Ji-Yoo didn’t tell me!” Nevertheless, Kong-Ji was super excited to be spending the night at her friend’s place. For once, Ji-Yoo was doing something fun and she could be part of it.”I’m so happy Encore-chan!! Let’s have fun!!”

[Demi]

Demi never really made friends... maybe one or two. Okay so she had a couple of friends in her life, but they always ended up breaking her trust in some way or another. It's taken her a long time to work out that she just shouldn't trust other people, but... that way of thinking was starting to crumble, even if only just a little tiny bit. Probably because she'd been around people she kind of liked being around, like Ji-Yoo and her archery club, for starters.

"Did you?" That was a relief, she wasn't the only one wanting to hang out! Also not the first time she had a sleep over, that was also a relief. "Mine, too..." She admitted, then smiled ever so slightly. "Grandmother would never let me have one, and before then, I didn't really have any friends who wanted to stay over." She'd never understood why not, she'd always loved her mom and dad... especially her dad. But a lot of people were afraid of her dad. Another thing she'd never understand.

At the mention of juice, she got up and went to the fridge. "Apple, orange, pineapple, cranberry, or grape juice?" She asked, surveying the juices. She took a few moments to reply about the egg hunters. "Ah... yeah..." She glanced to Ji-Yoo. "We ran into them before." She admitted, frowning slightly to herself. "What do I think about them? I think they're..." She thought about it for a moment or two. "Misguided."

Encore smiled, eyes sparkling as well! "We are!! I'm so excited!" She bounced on her heels a bit, okay so maybe she was bouncing in general. So excited. "All the fun! We can play games and play music and have fun and take baths together and everything!!" Boy she was stoked. She wanted all of her friends over, but Demi would for SURE decline that. So she'd be okay with Ji-Yoo and Kong-Ji being over for now!

[Ji Yoo]

Her grandmother? Did Demi have a strict family? As they were getting closer, Ji-Yoo was starting to get curious about her new friend, but she didn’t want to make her uncomfortable by asking questions that were too personal. She’d never had any sleepovers because, well, nobody ever liked her. When she did have friends, sometime at the beginning of elementary school and middle school, they all left after getting to know her better. She wasn’t fun and she had a tendency of saying mean things. SO they got to the conclusion that she thought she was better than them because her family was rich. Who would want a friend like that?

“Ah… I see. I never really had any friends to invite, so yeah.” Her parents always asked her about school and whether she was getting along with everyone. They favourite subject seemed to be why nobody ever came over and Ji-Yoo always said that they were all too busy. She didn’t want to be lying to her parents, but also didn’t want them to worry too much about her personal life. She was fine, or at least she thought she was. Maybe after this, she could have Demi over sometime, if she wanted.

“ You’re pretty stocked up.” The girl giggled, upon hearing the large variety of juice that Demi had. “Apple juice would be nice.” In all honesty, the egg-brekers thing was something that really worried her. She wanted to discover what was behind them and yet… there were no means for her to. She probably could attempt to fight them but she’d most likely end up losing. “ I keep wondering whether there’s someone between them. Someone who’s controlling them. They don’t really seem like people when you look into their eyes.”

Kong-Ji was so excited about this, there were so many fun things they could try. “Ohh yeahh! Kong-Ji wants to play games and listen to music hehe! What games can we play?” By now she was bouncing along with Encore.

[Demi]

"Ahhh, makes sense." She nodded slightly, picking up her pencil and clicking it so the lead came out, then pushing it back in, then clicking it again... rinse and repeat. It was just something to distract her a little. Honestly, if Demi got invited over to someone else's place, she wasn't sure what she'd do. She wondered if she'd have to ask her grandmother for permission, or if it was even allowed, being in the dorms and all. Another thought for another time. It wasn't like Ji-Yoo asked her yet anyway.

"Yes, well... I like having drinks around for convenience when I study. And since I've been exercising more, I had to keep hydration nearby." She'd already had problems with being dehydrated, so... that solved the issue. "Apple juice it is." She picked up a juice box labeled 'Apple' and then tossed it to Ji-Yoo. "Think fast." She said as she tossed it. After making sure Ji-Yoo caught it, she turned to grab a juice box for herself... this one white grape juice. She shifted, closing the mini fridge, then moved back to her chair. Thankfully there were two chairs, if Ji-Yoo so chose, she could sit in the other one. It was a double room, but Demi was the only one in it for now.

"Someone between them?" She questioned curiously... then nodded. "Ah- yeah, I understand that. I just... think that they've lost themselves, really, and without any direction to go, they just... chose to go the way they did." She shrugged. "They don't seem like people, at least for me, because they don't seem like they have a soul. Their eyes are just... dead... y'know?" She opened her little straw, then skewered it through the top of the juice box. Taking a sip, she thought about the hunters for a moment or two.

"I wonder if they got hurt or something, so they turned to hunting hearts' eggs?" She suggested, just kind of throwing her thoughts out there into the open. Who knows if she was right or not, though.

Encore, on a happier note, was so excited! It was her first sleep over, too, and she wanted to do everything perfectly!! "Um! Demi has a little hand held game system we can play!! Oh oh, or we can play boards games or on the computer!" Encore loved playing games on Demi's computer, if she was allowed, that is.

[Ji Yoo]

Ji-Yoo didn’t have to think a lot about supplies since she lived at home and their servants made sure to keep everything stocked. She wondered if Demi was from a rich family. Her last name was Nanjou, and Ji-Yoo had heard about Nanjou corp and was pretty sure her parents had at some point worked with them, but she wouldn’t know unless she asked. Perhaps she should formulate the question so that it sounds less obvious? “So, how come you live in the dorms and not at home?” Okay, maybe this was bad. Anyway, Demi didn’t really give off the rich girl vibes. Pretty much all of the daughters of her parents’ friends were insufferable creatures… and Demi, she was… different.

“Ah-“ Ji-Yoo managed to catch the apple juice, although she almost dropped it. That was close! The girl decided to take a seat on the other chair. She opened the can of juice and took a small sip before resuming the conversation. “I guess we can’t know anything for sure, just suppose…” The recent events made Ji-Yoo think that the faction leaders might be somewhat involved in all this. Or maybe not involved, but they at least had something they were trying to hide from the students, whether to protect them or just because they weren’t comfortable with revealing personal details.

“Say, what do you think about the faction leaders?” The question might have come out of nowhere for Demi, but Ji-Yoo was really curious about this aspect as well. It was probably the first time she got so curious about a matter. The first year had never even dreamed about rummaging through someone’s personal belongings, but she even found herself stealing something from Kirishigi sensei’s Planetarium. Sure, it was something small and probably irrelevant, but it was one step closer to figuring out what was actually going on in this school.

Ji-Yoo didn’t want to suspect the teachers, especially since all of them looked so kind, but then again, if she knew one thing, it was that you couldn’t judge a book by its cover. It was really hard… to trust anyone, really, because people are so unpredictable.

Kong-Ji’s eyes widened at the mention of a computer. “OHH YEAH! Ji-Yoo chan has one of those! But she doesn’t have anything fun on it. And she doesn’t let Kong-Ji see when she uses it. Like she’s trying to hide something.”

[Demi]

Demi sipped her juice, relaxing a bit. She blinked at Ji-Yoo's question about living in the dorms. "Uh- mm..." She thought about how she wanted to answer that for a few moments. It was kind of a combination of a bunch of different things. "Well, I didn't feel like living at home..." She decided that was a good way to describe it. "I mean, my parents don't live near by, and my grandmother, well... I'd rather be here than with her." She shrugged a bit.

Demi honestly couldn't care any less about the faction leaders hiding things. If they wanted to hide things, they could very well do what they wanted. She nodded. "Yeah, who knows." At the question about what she thought about the faction leaders, she thought about it for a moment or two. "Mmm... I guess they're alright?" She shrugged. "I found out they used to all be friends and were all in Guardians." Ah yes, that album. "But otherwise, I don't really think much of them. There's a lot of mystery in this school, but..." She thought about it for a moment or two. "I think there are reasons for things being so mysterious, even if we don't know them." Did that make sense? Kind of.

Demi just knew she didn't trust anyone really... and those she was beginning to trust... well, the faction leaders weren't part of that group. Probably wouldn't be because they weren't... well, Demi hardly knew them, so.

Encore wiggled. "We can use the computer then!!" She blinked, then glanced to Ji-Yoo. "Do you think maybe..." Encore's voice went down and she stepped closer to Kong-Ji. "Maybe she's looking up naughty things and doesn't want you to see?" She suggests. Encore, please. Child. Baby. Don't bring that up, what the fuck Encore.

[Ji Yoo]

Ji-Yoo nodded briefly. Demi didn’t seem too willing to share personal things, which was something they both had in common. She figured it might be a good idea not to further ask about her family unless she initiated the conversation herself. Even if not much was revealed, the first year figured that her friend’s relationship with her grandmother wasn’t very good. It must be painful not to be able to get along with your family, although that wasn’t Ji-Yoo’s case. Her parents could be annoying, just like most parents were, but the girl knew they loved her and she loved them… in her own way.

“Ah, so you knew about that too?” Ji-Yoo’s eyes widened for a moment, but her expression quickly went back to normal. Would it be a good idea to share her findings from the Planetarium with Demi? Sure, Yuki knew about them already and promised not to tell Kirishigi, but the more people knew, the higher was the chance she’d be found out. And the rest would be history.

Something was fishy about this school and Ji-Yoo found that she cared a little too much. She wasn’t usually like that, but it was in her nature to get suspicious quickly. And if the teachers were indeed causing the students hard by hiding things from them, then that was unforgivable and Ji-Yoo wanted to punish them. “Maybe there’s a reason, but I don’t like when things are being hidden from me. If I, personally, am in danger, I’d like to know WHY.”

So far, she paid no attention to what the guardians were speaking, but when Kong-Ji let out a loud squeal, she couldn’t ignore it anymore. Ji-Yoo glared at the two of them, angry that her conversation with Demi had been disturbed. “What are you two up to? Can’t you just be quiet?”

[Demi]

She'd share but, the subject had already passed, so she didn't see any reason to. Plus, it's not like she spoke much about that subject. Nobody knew anything about her grandmother yet, and that was probably for the best. Demi really didn't want to be pestered about it, so at least Ji-Yoo wouldn't pester her. Probably why Demi didn't mind being near Ji-Yoo... she didn't ask unnecessary questions that required answers. Ji-Yoo was a low maintenance friend, and Demi appreciated that a whole lot.

"Yeah... we found a year book that had the faction leaders in it when they were younger... they were all in Guardians. I wonder what caused them to split into three different factions..." She mused aloud, thinking quietly for a few moments. When Ji-Yoo spoke again, she nodded lightly. "I get that. Nobody likes being kept in the dark, especially if it's in regards to a safety issue." She thought about it for a moment or two. "We could always ask, you know... what they're hiding. Straight up." She shrugged.

As Ji-Yoo's attention turned to the guardian characters, Demi's attention shifted as well and she blinked. She'd been ignoring them up to now and so it kind of struck her as a surprise that they were actually discussing things.

Encore blinked, then turned to Ji-Yoo. "We were just talking about computers! Kong-Ji said you don't let her see what you do on the computer, so I thought you might be doing what Demi does!" What a loud mouthed little guardian character. "Look up naughty things!" Oh lord.

Demi's face immediately turned into a tomato and she reached out, snatching Encore up. "You-!" Her voice rose a couple of octaves and she was obviously embarrassed. How was she to explain herself NOW? "I-I do no such things--" She denied it. Atta girl.

[Ji Yoo]

“ A yearbook, huh... Where did you find it?” Ji-Yoo blinked. Yuki had found some files and pictures of the faction leaders while they were in highschool in Kirishigi sensei’s office, so that was how Ji-Yoo learned of their connection. Back then, the Guardians were the only faction available and indeed, it was a little strange that two new factions suddenly appeared out of nowhere. And then, there was the fact that the three leaders were never seen together. Maybe they had fought at some point. “Probably divergence of opinions… the factions cater to very different types of people, anyway.”

Lately, Ji-Yoo felt that she was changing. She was doing things she never thought she would and it started when she broke into the Planetarium. She wasn’t sure if she liked it or if that was who she wanted to be, but she knew one thing: there had to be something fishy about this school and the girl was going to find out. “I doubt they’d tell us if we asked. I mean, what would even be the point in hiding everything then?”

“Look up naughty things…?” For a moment, her face was blank, but then it turned red just like Demi’s. Embarrassed, she covered it with her hands. “W-wow.” Of course Demi would deny, she’d have too, in such circumstances. But who was the girl to judge? Admittedly she was too busy to care about that sort of… naughty things, but whatever Demi did was her problem.

As her friend was snatched away from her, Kong-Ji hurried up to the rescue. “Encore chan, forgive Kong-Ji! If I didn’t scream you wouldn’t be a prisoner now!” She let out a dramatic cry.

[Demi]

"The clock tower. It was up some really old rickety staircase that probably would've fallen if we weren't so careful." She shrugged a bit. "It was in an old box. I looked by the clock face, but nothing was there... it was pretty disappointing..." she nodded a little as she spoke. "It was signed by Kirishigi sensei to the guy that takes care of the clock tower..." She brushed some hair out of her face a bit as she looked to Ji-Yoo. "Maybe." She agreed with a small shrug. "I think it would've been nice if they stuck together... but at the same time, I guess it doesn't bother me too much that they didn't."

"Mmmm... maybe they wouldn't, but it still never hurts to ask, I guess. I mean, if they know we're curious, wouldn't it be better to just get it out in the open?"

Back to the naughty things subject. Demi reached out, snagging Kong-Ji, too. "Both of you-- just-- go do something-- I don't care what, but go away." She tossed both characters off.

Encore spun in the air as she was tossed away from Demi, and when she was right side up, she became very dizzy, wobbly and floating in mid air for the moment. "S-sorry Demi-chan--" Encore apologized dizzily. She didn't mean to embarrass Demi, but it was true!! Encore didn't make a habit of lying, even though Demi lied and denied it. Once she was no longer dizzy, Encore looked over to Kong-Ji. "Let's go get something to drink or eat--" she suggested.