entrancelogs | (no subject)

Early, as usual. Honestly, she had nothing better to do. There's only so much fruitless research one can perform before beginning to lose hope. Naoto was just a tiny bit more persistent than the average truth seeker. She was the Anna Nicole Smith of the American media empire. She was the star of failure.

And it sucked.

So at least, with something along the lines of a ghost hunt, she could take action and do something. Worrying about Gokudera/everyone else also provided another outlet for this futility. But mostly working about Gokudera right now because he's a big stupid.

"Hello." Not surprisingly, Naoto will be eying him warily, looking for the slightest signs of pain or hampered movement.

"Hey." Gokudera puts his hands in his pockets and watches Naoto approach. Unfortunately for her, he's practiced at ignoring wounds and acting as though they didn't exist.

The painkillers helped a little, too.

"Yukino should be here soon."

"Alright." Naoto continues to watch Gokudera from the corner of her eye while fiddling half-heartedly with her notes on ghosts and whatever.

If you had told her a few months ago that she were going on a ghost hunt, she would have laughed. But things are different here.

"Will you--" She stops herself from inquiring about his health. Enough nagging. "Nevermind."

KOJI THIS IS YOUR CUE GET YOUR ASS IN THIS LOG RIGHT NOW OR SO HELP ME I WILL LAY DOWN THE LAW WITH MY FIST TO YOUR FACE

MULTIPLE TIMES

YOU GUYS ARE FAILURES; I HAD AN AWAY MESSAGE UP.

I mean.

Yukino waves as soon as she sees them, being considerably faster at actually getting there than her mun is at tagging. She feels a little weird about this ghost hunt, mostly because she can't shake the feeling that she shouldn't be buying into this as much as she is. It takes a huge suspension of disbelief to even acknowledge that they could possibly find a ghost here, but if it's true it would b a huge find in terms of who can and can't be brought to Wonderland (the conclusion inevitably being "Ghosts can be trapped here; no one is safe.").

But even if there aren't any ghosts to report, it's still something to do, and God does she need something to do. Staring at the same four walls of the library gets really old after a while, you know?

(Also, it secretly bothers her that she got there last. HER GOOD REPUTATION FOR BEING ON TIME. DAMN IT. ALKSDJALSLKAJSDLAKSD HATING ALL THE THINGS.

But, she would never be so petty as to bring it up. Never. Ever.)

"Hey!" she calls out, pretty cheery for the occasion. "So...it looks like we're all here. I guess that means it's time for a good ghost hunt, right?"

Gokudera smirks. Yes, someone who doesn't know about his injuries and won't nag him, score. He nods.

"I figured we could start down here and work our way up."

"That sounds like a sane enough strategy." For ghost hunting.

Go team go. I just researched ghosts for like a million hours, and this is my tag. Bask in it.

It is glorious. And don't worry, Gokudera. When she finds out she is going to scold you forever.

"Mm, that sounds good," she says. "Alright; let's go find some ghosts then!"

ADVENTURE TIME. WOOO. ARE YOU PUMPED? BECAUSE SHE IS KINDA PUMPED, NOT GONNA LIE. ARE WE GOING YET? C'MOOOON LET'S GO.

He'll lead the way I guess. Walking around the ground floor first because that's where they are.

He's seriously never done this before and basically has no idea what he's doing, even though he researched it first.

Wow, this is the most exciting thing in existence. Hunting for ghosts in the middle of the day. Dude, we don't even have a shaking camera to spice things up.

However, Naoto will be thorough. You might even see her tap at a TV screen or two.

Just... In case. Maybe there's a VHS around somewhere they can watch and get cursed from?

Wow, you two suck. No, really. Is she the only excited one here? What the hell, you guys.

To be fair though, her energy level goes down considerably when they don't find anything in like, the first ten minutes or so. She's not really sure how you're supposed to go about looking for ghosts though, especially in the middle of the day. She keeps sort of looking up at the ceiling, and then back in the direction they came from, because ghosts would probably pop out of unexpected places or float in the air, right?

...Right?

...Damn it, they should have brought the trebuchet.

Conversely, Gokudera becomes more energetic as they go. He takes notes in a small notebook he has with him--all coded of course--and snaps lots of random pictures with a digital camera he had in his pocket.

He even has a voice recorder for trying to get EVPs, but he's not going to break that out yet.

Especially since the first few floors are going to be freaking uneventful.

All except the stairs, which he hates because he has to grit his teeth and try not to look like it hurts to go up them.

bluh bluh bluh These are the most goddamn determined motherfuckers you will ever meet in the entirety of your existence. It's not even funny.

SUDDENLY IT IS NIGHT. Much like in Zelda, the sun moves rapidly over head in a montage scene that no one cares about. It's set to the theme from Space Jam. A wolf howls in a very stereotypical manner.

"If there really is a ghost," can you hear her annoyance? She sounds like me before drinking wine and after watching the Anna Nicole Smith opera," then it ought to show itself now. Considering the sun's set, and we've been searching for hours."

"Yeah, seriously," Yukino whines right along. "We probably could have waited until at least now to start all of this. We've been wandering around all day for nothing! Who ever heard of a ghost coming out in the middle of the day anyway?"

Can you hear this, Gokudera? Because she's looking right at you as she says it. NAOTO, JOIN YUKINO IN STARING AT HIM IN ANNOYANCE.

Somehow, Gokudera has not lost patience with this exercise. Then again, it was his idea.

"Naoto didn't want it to be like a horror movie."

He tucks his notebook into his pocket, about to suggest that they stop, if Yukino wants to be such a girl about it.

But then instead of that, he shifts his weight, loses his balance, and falls down the stairs. Which fucking sucks when several of your ribs are cracked. Like. Even more than it would suck anyway.

In the meantime, someone is very very annoyed at being disturbed.

And by someone, I mean Kayako.

But then, she's also kind of bored, so this will provide her with a distraction. And maybe a kill. That would be fun, right? Right.

The lights around them, in the hallway and the stairwell, flicker a few times.

.......................................

"You must be joking." I warned you about stairs bro. I told you dog. IT KEEPS HAPPENING. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVw23WyIQdI)

Except Naoto's comment regards the lights. She's got that feeling. A familiar one, just like the first time an off TV flickered on during a rainy midnight. But there goes Gokudera, and if one were so inclined, they could easily cross-apply her lights comment to Gokudera because HE'S BEING A BIG STUPID DUMB currently. There's a split second to decide: go after him or investigate further.

Pre-Persona 4, she would have just investigated further. Losers ruining her groove get kicked to the curb. Now?

"--H-HEY!!" Going after you down those stairs you idiot if you broke anything I swear to god I will turn this log around.

Oh my freaking God. What just happened?

Yukino is torn. She wants to stare in horror at the lights and down the stairs, which sort of leaves her glance darting between the two for a second. Once she's over that, Naoto's already halfway down the stairs, but Yukino has no idea where she should be, since the lights were flickering everywhere.

But OH GOD, GOKUDERA COULD BE DEAD, so she hangs onto the wall at the top of the stairs and shouts down.

"Gokudera?! Naoto, is he okay?"

...Okay, maybe she should be down there too. She doesn't RECKLESSLY RUN DOWN though, in case something supernatural pushed him down.

SHE DIDN'T BELIEVE IN ANY OF THIS YESTERDAY.

WHAT HAVE YOU GUYS DONE TO HER?

Despite all this yelling and running down the stairs, the sound of something coming down the adjacent flight can be heard as the lights start to go out completely, one after another.

The sound is like something heavy being dragged and nails digging into wood, and plastic sliding across itself and the floor.

Flashlight, motherfucker.

Yukino is suddenly filled with the horrifying thought that they are all going to die, and that Gokudera is probably already dead OH MY GOD WE'RE GOING TO DIE.

But no, no, stop that. Yukino can be a bamf, and she has a good head on her shoulders, so even though she's totally shaking in her shoes, she grips the hand rest until her knuckles turn white and starts slowly heading down the stairs again. She makes sure to call out though, so they know her "coming down the stairs" noises are different from the "There is a ghost that wants us to die" noises.

"Seriously, is he okay? We really need to get the hell out of here."

Gokudera's alive at least, down on the landing, but that ISN'T REALLY IMPORTANT because Kayako starts making a horrible noise (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-_JMbq45cE) that can not be ignored. There's a thump as her body reaches the landing behind Yukino.

Hearing confirmation that Gokudera wasn't dead was a relief to say the least. However, that relief is short-lived. Especially when that noise is so close.

Naoto turns, pointing her light at Kayako. She gasps. Almost drops the light.

"YUKINO, MOVE." Naoto is completely forgoing honorifics at this point. I normally forget them, but shut up. This is serious business.

OH GOD THAT IS SERIOUS BUSINESS.

"Wha-" But then, that noise oh god. WHATEVER IT IS IS RIGHT THERE.

There is something about this whole being in peril thing that makes Yukino remember she's excellent at athletics. What the hell is she doing slowly going down the stairs? SHE NEEDS TO GET DOWN THERE IMMEDIATELY SO LET'S DO THIS.

...Well, she obviously can't get a running start, but she pushes against the stairs really good and just FUCKING JUMPS.

(IF THIS WAS HER ANIME, A SPORTS: 10 WOULD BE FLASHING OVER HER RIGHT ABOUT NOW.)

Also I hope you're either planning on catching her or getting the fuck out of the way, because getting accidentally kicked in the face by Yukino will probably hurt.

A lot.

Hey, guess who caught Yukino?

"FUCK." You know how his ribs were only cracked before? Yeah, they are probably broken now. Breathing is suddenly much harder. "Get OFF."

Sorry, Yukino, he's just going to shove at you until you move.

For her part, Kayako's just going to start slowly dragging herself down the stairs toward them.

Oh god you two are just so--

Naoto is hitting the bottom step, grabbing BOTH of them-- half dragging them away, half pulling them up. They are so not prepared for this. Regrouping is necessary.

"KEEP MOVING."

"Right, right! Moving!"

Yukino lets herself be pulled and scrambles to her feet so the three of them can RUN THE HELL AWAY, because that's obviously the best regrouping strategy. She maneuvers herself so that she can help drag Gokudera, because she's pretty sure that PERFECTLY EXECUTED LANDING didn't help whatever injuries he got from falling down the stairs in the first place.

Unfortunately, they don't exactly have time to lay him down, ask him if he's okay, and do first aid, because there is a GHOST RIGHT THERE, so he's just going to have to deal with it.

Gokudera tries to help with this whole RUNNING THE FUCK AWAY thing once he's on his feet. Because oh god oh god THAT IS ACTUALLY A GHOST BACK THERE.

He'll be the first to slow down once they've put a few floors between themselves and the CROAKING HORROR back there though, because ow.

RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN---

And we stop. Panting. The lights are on. No crazyass noises. She takes a moment to glance around to make sure there's nothing suspicious.

Safe (for now).

It takes only a moment or so for Naoto to gather her breath, but when she does, she strides right for Gokudera.

"You. Shirt off. Now." She's way too caught up in the adrenaline of the moment to worry about being embarrassed. You are injured and a girl just won the Beijing Olympics by using you as her landing mat.

Yukino is completely on board with this. She spends exactly five seconds being grateful for sweet, glorious light, before she gets on Gokudera's case. She makes sure to stand on the other side of him, so that he has no where to run to.

"Yeah, you don't sound good at all," she says. "Are you alright?"

Except somehow "Are you alright?" manages to sound like "Take off your damn shirt right now so Naoto and I can decide that for you". Aren't you glad you have girls for friends?

"Come on, let us see."

Gokudera curses under his breath and starts to struggle with his shirt. This is actually kind of a painful exercise, but he manages it, by god, because he is not going to look like a wuss in front of these two.

He's got his ribs bandaged, like they were when Naoto did it for him, so most of the damage is hidden.

"I'm fucking fine." His broken bones are not the priority here, you guys, okay, there is a ghost in the mansion.

"That's a lie. The ghost can wait." Guess who is going for your bandages, idiot. Help me, Yukino. Witness all the bruises and mess.

Don't worry Naoto, Yukino's got this. Or rather, she's got Gokudera by the shoulders so Naoto can get the bandages without him struggling too much. Hi there, buddy! Care to explain where those bandages came from? Because she's pretty sure you don't just magically get bandages when someone jumps on you.

Besides, now she can get right in his ear when she bitches at him. Mwahahaha.

"You were hurt already? What the hell is wrong with you?! You should seriously know better than to push yourself like that! How could ghost hunting possibly have been a good idea right now?! You should be in bed letting your wounds heal!"

And she hasn't even seen them unwrapped yet. Good luck, Gokudera.

God, you both suck. So. MUCH.

He doesn't try to struggle at all because just moving hurts, and because Yukino will just bitch more if he does.

"It wasn't that bad until someone decided to jump down a flight of stairs onto me."

"Yet again, another lie. I suggest you silence yourself now before you continue digging yourself into a deeper hole." Bandages are off. This is a mess.

Naoto, you are the best. This is why they are friends.

"I didn't do it on purpose! The ghost was going to get me, and it was dark! I didn't really have any other options! I'd say a real gentleman would have caught me, but you obviously weren't in any condition to."

She sneaks a peek and...wow, that really does look bad. Her reaction is somewhere between an empathetic "oww" and "eww". But that's just more incentive for her to get on his case.

"Besides, it wouldn't be this bad if you had just taken it easy in the first place and not insisted on looking for ghosts!"

IN OTHER WORDS, ALL OF THIS IS YOUR OWN DAMN FAULT.

"It isn't a lie." And he looks over his shoulder at Yukino to add, "And I never fucking claimed to be a gentleman."

After all, gentlemen don't punch girls to knock them unconscious, do they? No. They do not.

Either way, the ribs are not pretty. At all. That bruising is pretty atrocious.

But ~~honeybadger~~ Gokudera don't care. He is not going to let a few cracked ribs get in the way of GHOST HUNTING.

A few broken ribs might be a different story.

"Look, I fucking get it, okay?"

"You obviously don't." Oh shit son. Naoto is countering your sass with rage.

"Otherwise you wouldn't be in this situation." But she's already begun the process of looking for fractures/bruises/breaks/whatever. Remember before when she was embarrassed and gentle about this? Yeah, not happening this time. She won't be a bitch, but it won't be pleasant.

"Naoto is absolutely right! If you're going to be stubborn in the first place, then you shouldn't whine when you get scolded for it, since you obviously don't know better."

Seriously, he kind of deserves every bit of bitching he's getting right now. If he wasn't already hurt, Yukino probably would have hit him by now.

Gokudera isn't even going to answer because A) it would do him absolutely no good and he'd just cuss at them, and 2) what Naoto's doing fucking hurts and doesn't really leave much room for him to say anything.

The main injuries have been located. It's time for bandaging. By this point, Naoto's much quicker-- she's had practice. And the research she did about dealing with ribs after she patched him up the first time helped considerably too. Fuckin' professional.

"Done."

"Yay! Great job, Naoto."

Yukino moves, since Gokudera probably wants to be able to put his shirt back on. Or they could keep it and make him parade his bandages around since he was so insistent on going on adventures with cracked ribs in the first place. But that would be really mean.

"So," she says. "I take it we're delivering Gokudera back to his room for being a terrible patient then, right?"

Yep. NO MORE GHOSTS FOR YOU, MISTER.

You guys suck so much YOU NEVER LET HIM HAVE ANY FUN.

"I can go back to my room on my own." That's a little muffled by him wrestling his shirt back on.

"Not with the ghost wandering about."

"Besides, with your stubbornness you would probably just wander off to do something else that doesn't involve resting and letting your wounds heal," Yukino points out. "You need an escort, or we'd never know for sure if you did what you were told."

Of course, he could always leave after they drop him off, but look at that scheming face. You know she would find out about it and end him.

Just this icon at you, Yukino. This icon forever.

"You realize we have to go back up the fucking stairs to get to my room, right? Past where you saw her."

"There are two of us escorting you. If the need occurs, I would be willing to act as a diversion." It's not favorable, but if it gets their WEAKEST member to safety, it's worthwhile.