there's a sonic the hedgehog joke in here somewhere

[reingenium]

WHO: iida, izuku, cairngorm, ochako, okuyasu + others! maybe you!
WHERE: all over
WHEN: this month!
WHAT: we're getting that good CR
WARNINGS: potatoes and oranges, and best friend angst, disembodied jewel hands?, violence?, fishing

starters will be below!

Comments

izuku (and todoroki) / after the forest exploration log

[reingenium]

[ iida was given a fairly nebulous time as to when his friends would return from the forest no cell phone reception meant that he couldn't be contacted if he wasn't physically located or messaged from the forum. even outside of U.A.'s jurisdictions—and yes, by now iida knows that they're farther from U.A.'s reach than he's comfortable with—he still felt his responsibilities strongly. momo would be joining the rest of them on their excursion, which was a relief, and logically, it was best for someone with great speed and sense of direction to stay behind in the town in case of an emergency.

still, the hours that passed by were tense. iida wasn't tied to one part of the town, but he lingered near the outskirts of the forest regardless, examining the well and it's (newly) fresh water, scouring for whatever leftover things there were to repair or find after the town's refurbishment. mostly, he just watched the forest.

the one time he leaves the forest's side is when a few finally leave the forest. when he returns from his home after having something to eat, he sees a familiar head of white and red, and beside it, another familiar nest of messy, dark green hair. they're both sitting, and from behind, they seem solemn...

not that it stops him as he jogs over to them, waving his arm and calling out: ]

Todoroki! Midoriya! You've arrived back safely?!

[inheritance]

[The weariness is starting to weigh down on him, even if he's trying his best to hide it. Not that he can, effectively, when it seems that his friends have gotten better at reading him.

Still, Izuku jolts out of his daze and offers Iida a weak smile when he calls out to them.]

Yeah...we didn't run into anything that we couldn't handle. Todoroki-kun did most of the work with his ice. [He adds a beat later, because it's true.]

[glaciers]

[Shouto's at his side, unwilling to leave his friend alone after everything that's happened. As tired as he is, he doesn't want to leave before he's certain somebody will take care of Midoriya.]

The goat men weren't too difficult.

How was it here?

[reingenium]

[ as he comes to their side, he can already see that weariness on their faces, his eyes flickering worriedly between the two of them. already iida's inclination is to fetch the pair some of the cleaner well water and tell them to go rest. he regrets not bringing something to drink out of with him.

...but. goat men. he blinks hard. ]

Other than the sudden changes from a few nights ago, nothing too out of the ordinary seemed to have happened.

I'm glad to see that the two of you are mostly safe and out of the forest, but... What do you mean by 'goat men?'

[inheritance]

Ah, it was... this group of goat-people that we came across in the forest. They must've been part of a cult, because they were in the middle of a ritual when we found them.

[Izuku's voice is softer than usual, though it could be easily attributed to his exhaustion.]

Todoroki-kun froze them so we could investigate.

cairngorm 1/2

[reingenium]

[ today, iida's choosing to venture around the flavo district. despite it being the residence of one of his closest friends, he hasn't done much reconnaissance in the area. he had been hoping to find more material on the town and its makeup in the ruga or bluo districts; they seemed like more promising locations to find some kind of library in, or some sort of community center, a government building-

despite his searches, he has yet to find a lead of any kind. there can't be any more harm in searching through flavo. there's an improvement since the last time he's really explored it, which was before the town underwent all its cleaning and repair. it isn't perfect, but even if iida doesn't find clues to the town's origins here, it's almost eerily nice to at least walk through.

the foliage makes it a little difficult, but iida's already started to notice the few fruits and vegetables that have appeared here more than in the other districts. he has his school bag slung across his body, which he's using to keep whatever he manages to find on the outskirts of the forest. for now, he's reaching for what seems like a pomegranate from one of the trees...

and his foot presses on something hard. he catches himself before he can feel it give or break, thankfully, with the soft pile of leaves underneath it. iida steps back and looks down at whatever the thing is.

he blinks and squints. he squats slowly and reaches for whatever this is, pulling it out from the leaves just enough to see what it is. and it's definitely a hand. ]

2/2

[reingenium]

Ah-!

[ there goes a yelp, and that he drops the thing back onto the pile of leaves, his hand snapping back like he just touched a hot stovetop. he's seen a lot of blood and guts by now, but you're still never really prepared to find a disembodied hand. maybe when he's a professional hero.

he catches himself on a nearby tree before he can fall backwards and quickly steps away, rising to his feet. it's still a hand from where he can see it, but what does he do now? pick it up?? run?? ]

[unghost]

[ For lack of a better word, they're mad. Mad because they have to be on this stupid semi-colorless planet, mad because there's no other gems here, mad because there's no glue or powder here which forces them, a simple librarian, to forge their own, and most of all mad because their stupid saw that was made for cutting ice got stuck in a damn tree because they guess they will just never have the gentle touch or grace that their beloved counterpart had.

It all happened so fast that it was only when they actually looked down at their arm after striking the tree that they saw that, yes, their hand was missing. Snapped off and probably flew off who knows where, with what little strategy they'd been using to do this task - which leaves them with no clues as to what direction it could have gone off to.

For all their exasperation, they at least know that if they don't make haste, it could get further damaged... a hundred winters alone meant they could patch themselves up within reason, but anything more complicated than a simple break? They'd just have to adjust to life without one hand, then, since their inclusions aren't exactly champs at accepting new material. They make the executive decision to just leave their weapon half way through the tree, since it's not like anyone will be able to steal it without them finding out - and it's not until they hear a yelp nearby that their (Very Grumpy) focus on the ground in search for the appendage is broken.

It comes from a little downhill from where they are, having ventured a bit further into the forest than the other, so it should come as no surprise that they approach him from behind, peering around him and fully expecting some sort of enemy. ]

What was that yelp for? [ They don't...see anything worth alarm here...and they don't quite catch sight of their hand that must have rolled downhill, since they're busy looking around for some sort of threat. ] I thought you were getting attacked.

[reingenium]

[ iida had heard the crunching of leaves coming from cairngorm's footsteps. he's already braced himself for the worst, standing up tall and bringing his hands into fists. he's found a single orange so far; if he has to fight, he would have preferred to at least peel and eat it first, but he might just have to rip it open and chow down if need be...

but when iida can finally make out who it is—sorry, cairngorm, but you're very white and a little harder to spot than most in a colorless forest—he feels a little more relieved despite cairngorm's obvious irritation. ]

It's you. [ his shoulders slack a little, but he's still uneasy. he doesn't notice their missing hand from where he's standing. ]

I wasn't attacked, per se... [ he clears his throat, taking another step from the hand lying in the leaves and gesturing towards it behind him. ] But I found something disturbing in this forest.

[unghost]

[ They let out a little exhale to acknowledge what he said, boldly going around him to see what this 'disturbing' thing is. There isn't exactly anything in mind that they expect to see, but it definitely wasn't a warm, familiar glint coming from beneath some leaves.

Quickly, they kneel down near where the hand is, rolling up their cuffed sleeve with their still attached hand to reveal their..."injured" arm? It's broken from above the wrist, glossy dark crystal catching the light as they move closer. The way they brush the leaves away from it is surprisingly gentle given Cairn's general show of harshness, and they delicately pick up the hand and inspect it a little closer to see if there's any further damages. ]

Was this the "disturbing" thing you found?

[ If it wasn't clear enough before that this is their hand, they hold it up to the other expectantly, a matching set of ten black, crystalline nails glinting in the soft sunlight. ]

okuyasu

[reingenium]

[ back in their boat home, iida is sitting at an old desk beside his bed, leaning over a small collection of his old school notebooks and some pens. he's decided that he can start sacrificing some of his paper to take notes about the town itself and try to puzzle out its origins, even if it means having to find more paper later somehow.

anyway, that won't stop him from getting hungry. at some point, he pushes himself back from his chair, ready to take one of his canned preserves from the kitchen, and he definitely just sees a large crate pop out into existence on one of the tables.

he stares. then he raises his glasses, rubs his eyes, and the crate is still there. he blinks hard. ]

What...? How did this-?

[ he'll go ahead over to the crate carefully and examine it, touching the lid with his fingertips. but what's inside is almost as strange as the fact that it came out of nowhere. ]

These are... potatoes?

[pursestrings]

[After the Absolutely Buck Wild motorcycle wolf chase in the forest, Okuyasu doesn't want to do much besides go home and chill. He's a little roughed up from his crazy stunts, but no one's carrying him back on a stretcher, so it's overall a good time. He and Nanjo, both being housed in Bluo, likely drop Ochako off before parting to go to their own homes, and that is where Okuyasu's at as a person before he enters the house... loudly. Not because he's shouting or anything, just because he's a Loud person and can't go six feet without making some kind of noise.

He kicks the front door open is what happens this time; just because. Not hard enough to damage anything, but hard enough to bang loudly against the wall. He's dusty and disheveled but looks no worse for wear, really...

Hey, roomie.] Yo, where'd that come from? [3... 2...] Oh shit, is that mine? That was fast!

[reingenium]

[ you would think that living with okuyasu would make iida used to these kinds of entrances even a little bit! but as evidenced by the way iida rears back and throws both arms over one shoulder, his eyes snapping open over to the front door, that hasn't happened just yet. he's going to put a cushion on that wall sooner or later. ]

O-Okuyasu! [ he's going to ask about the box, but first, he's going to shake his finger at okuyasu, literally, while he throws his other arm out towards the door, like he can't see it. ] Do not kick the door!

[pursestrings]

[Oh, cool, so Iida is exactly as excitable as, hmm, every time Okuyasu has ever seen him. He's mercifully resisted roasting the hell out of him every time, but he does grin briefly like he's seriously considering it.

He also does close the door with his foot, for emphasis.] What? It's not like it's busted.

oops, iida would have called him "nijimura," sorry!

[reingenium]

[ iida's not liking that grin... it reminds him of a certain someone's back in his class. he chops both arms in gesture towards the door again. ]

If you treat it roughly that way, the hinges might eventually come completely loose, or the wood might splinter off, or the lock might eventually completely break! We may not have the resources to repair it if any of those things happen!

kaoru and shiho

[reingenium]

[ Restore the written word. Understand the worth of a story.

iida had a small handful of guesses for what the meaning of the quest would be. his best guess was that they were to write a story on solid paper, which he thankfully had a little of in his school bookbag. he had wanted to use it to continue to take his notes on the strange town, but for the sake of completing a quest, he would be willing to sacrifice some of it.

he's not sure that kaoru and shiho would agree, but he's at their meeting place (the well) a few minutes ahead of the designated time with a pen and some folded pieces of paper in his pocket anyway. ]

Akashi. [ he meets kaoru with a small bow of his head and then turns to shiho.

...he meets her a little more stiffly, like he's somehow nervous, but he gives her a head-bow too, because he's polite. ]

Sannomiya. [ please don't have a gun on you right now. ] Thank you both for agreeing to meet here.

[queenofminiskirts]

[Kaoru might have wondered what Shiho did to make him so nervous around her...but, who are we kidding here? They're best friends. There are no secrets between the two of them.

Still, she thought the quests were worth a shot...though she had to admit she was as much motivated by the fact that people could get crates of food for reward as she was by the possibility of being able to read (maybe more).

She smiles and waves.] Hey, Iida-kun! [She waves off his thanks.] It's no problem. We weren't doing anything anyway. Right, Shiho?

[good_ideas]

[Of course she has her gun on her, it just makes her feel that much safer. And like this, she's prepared for any kind of situation in which she'd need a weapon.

One part of her thinks that he has plenty of reasons to be nervous. For one, she's terrifying.

Another part of her is uncomfortable and fidgety and would have apologized.]

There's nothing to do here.

[And because she has to acknowledge him some time:] ...Iida-san.

[reingenium]

[ and she doesn't have it in a holster, does she. thanks, shiho.

while shiho is terrifying in her own way, but unfortunately for her, iida has also met people who look much more fearsome and have been much more deadlier in his experience. if he has more reasons to be scared of her, she should show him.....

for now, he has a good opinion of kaoru, and while shiho is very adamant about keeping her guns however way she wants to, she hasn't done anything to indicate that she's a bad person. he's just wary, but shiho gets another small nod. ]

We do have our mysterious user that's assigning those quests to keep us busy, at the very least. And they seem to be able to reward us for doing those tasks. My roommate received a crate of potatoes for completing one of those quests.

[queenofminiskirts]

[Kaoru thought Shiho was more cute than scary though she'd never tell Shiho that. But she heard about the potatoes thing...]

Are you living with Okuyasu? [There couldn't have been that many people who received a crate of potatoes, right?]

Was there somehwere you wanted to do this? Standing around a well isn't exactly what I'd call a good place for storytelling.

[thriftea]

[Iida doesn't have to wait outside for long at all; thanks to 1) sheer excitement and 2) her many trips to this very house, Ochako pops into view only ten or so minutes after sending her last message. She spots him immediately, of course—his blocky figure is hard to miss—and she breaks right into a swift jog, tugging her floating crate of blood oranges behind her.]

Iida! You didn't have to sit out here!

[But she's glad that he did!]

[reingenium]

[ iida is sitting at the porch leading into their boat home, scanning his eyes over the breadth of the bridges and marbled pathways. his schoolbag, showing signs of gentle wear, is strapped across his body. when ochako appears, he visibly beams, bringing himself to his feet and stepping out onto the pathway towards her. ]

Of course I did! I wanted to be sure to meet you here. [ he brings his hands out in front of him, his eyes flickering briefly to the crate behind her. it's the same sort that had randomly appeared into his own home. ]

Thank you again for bringing these here. Would you like me to bring those inside for you, or should I take the oranges from here? [ he pats his bag! ]

[thriftea]

[Ochako all but skids to a stop in front of her friend, meeting his beam with a beam of her own. It has been a while since they've seen each other, and she can't help but to give him a quick once-over to make sure that everything is fine. Yes, Iida is responsible to a fault, but... this place makes her worry.

It's clear, however, that everything is a-okay, and so she twists around to grab the crate with both hands.]

We can both take them inside! It might be easier to keep them all in the box, right? [Facing back toward him, she gently nudges the oranges his way. Ta-da! A gift for you, tall friend.] I did give a few away to other people, but there should be enough here to last you for a while. I'm so glad that this was my reward!

[reingenium]

[ iida's brows go up the moment she mentions the entire box. when she brings it back towards him, the surprise in his face gives way to a smile. he takes the edges of it, bringing it close enough for him to take into his arms. ]

You're giving me the entire crate of it?

[ he grins back at ochako as he turns back towards his front door and slowly walks towards it. ]

I assumed you were walking about and distributing them already! This will certainly last me a while. I'll have to find a plot of land to plant a tree in. [ although he'd prefer if it they weren't here long enough to see it grow.... in real time, anyway. ]

[thriftea]

[There's not too great of a distance between Iida and the door, but Ochako manages to dart right in front of him anyway. He's carrying the crate, so the least she can do is get the door for him, right? It's the polite thing to do.]

I wanted to save as many as I could for you. I meant everything I said in my messages, you know.

[But no worries, Iida! She's not about to rehash all of that friendship talk; she's just going to open the door and stand to the side, gesturing for him to enter first.]

You should talk to Dave, though. He's very nice, so I'm sure that he'll plant some in his garden for you. Or I can help you find the perfect spot!