Part 11

Ran: Even though the washroom's quite simple, but it's still pretty nice to just have a soak in the hot water.

Ran: And there's some kind of fragrant smell.

Sai: Oh, probably Sakura's group used some kind of bathing additive or something, like a bath bomb. I know Miho likes to use that kind of thing.

Ran: What is this, a vacation getaway??

Sai: Actually we've got some in our room, too. I just never bother with it.

Ran: Huh.

Ran didn't particularly care. She sank lower and immersed herself to shoulder-level in the hot water.

Sai: Feels like today the tub's particularly full. Is it because of your giant tits?? You're going to cause the water to spill, y'know.

Ran: What the heck are you talking about.

Ran looked away and studiously avoided making eye-contact with Sai.

Ran: Just take your damn bath and don't make it weird.

Ran: And here I was thinking maybe I could have a serious conversation with you for once.

Ran: Well, yeah. She's miss Sakura, after all. I've never seen her panic, ever.

Sai: You're making her sound like she's some kind of goddess. Say, what kind of person was Ann, before?

Ran: That's a secret for me to keep all to myself, and I'm not telling anyone.

Ran: Hey! Cut it out!

Sai: Ha, that's what you get for asking me questions and then not answering me when I ask some back.

Ran: Ugh. Whatever.

Ran pushed her body up and left the bathtub, shaking the water off her hair forcefully.

Ran: I'm done washing, you have fun splashing water around like a kid.

Sai: Hey, no need to rush, I'm almost done.

Sai: Let's leave the bathroom together, otherwise it'll be troublesome for the people coming after us.

Ran: You've already made plenty of trouble for me!

Ran knocks on the door. Nobody responds.

Ran: (Guess they're showering.)

Ran: Do you use the infirmary often? Or do you all have excellent health and leave Takei with nothing to do all day.

Tama: We very rarely use this place, indeed. If it's a small matter like a cold or a stomachache, we can usually solve those problems with just the first-aid kits in the dorms.

Ran: Oh, is that so. There's first-aid kits in the dorms, huh.

Ran: (I didn't notice any in the rooms. Maybe they're somewhere in the kitchen or something?)

Koizumi: Indou-san, Ibuki-san, hello.

Tama: Hello, Koizumi!

Ran: Koizumi, are you okay? Does your foot still hurt?

Ran: (Even though we've literally already showered together.)

Koizumi: I thought I'd hidden my wounds well...

Koizumi seemed embarrassed that Ran had easily realized that she'd been injured.

Ran: Is it bad? Why not ask Miho to help you apply it?

Koizumi: Well, it's not that bad, so, I thought, I wouldn't trouble Takei-san...

Make light conversation and then leave the medical room

Tama has something to say (INVESTIGATION 5, PASSED)

Get Koizumi to tell the truth (REQUIRES CHARISMA 6)

Spend Temporary Points

Ran: (Feel like Koizumi-sensei's pushing herself, but I don't really know how to talk to her...)

Ran: (Oh, Tama's looking at Koizumi's foot with obvious concern, too. She seems to have something she wants to say. I should prompt her.)

Ran: Tama, do you have something to say?

Tama: Me? I, er.

Tama hesitated, and then kneeled down in front of Koizumi's feet.

Tama: Let me check it for you, president. You might have trouble applying the medicine evenly if you're trying to do it yourself.

Tama: You've got to take injuries seriously and take care of them properly, otherwise their condition will only worsen.

Ran: (They're seriously swollen and inflamed.)

Tama began applying the poultice to Koizumi's feet. Koizumi's mouth was set in a straight line; she was clearly trying very hard to not make any sounds of pain.

Ran: You're pretty good at this, Tama.

Tama: Mm, I've done this a lot of times before! The young mistress was constantly getting herself hurt.

Tama: ...And that'll do it.

Tama: Koizumi-san, please rest here for a while until the medicine takes effect. Then you can head back to the dorms.

Koizumi: I understand. Thank you, Indou-san, and Ibuki-san...

Ran: ...I didn't even do anything though.

Ran: (Just like before, Koizumi-sensei...)

Ran: Well, we won't disturb your rest, then. Let's go, Indou.

Tama: Okay. Koizumi-san, please definitely make sure your feet have stopped hurting, before you try to walk anywhere!

Ran: Don't worry. Koizumi can take care of herself.

Ran knew that she'd just been pulled out of the nurse's office by her memories of Koizumi Hyuga. She didn't want to look anymore at Koizumi's face; it'd only make her memories grind away at her more.

When Tama and Ran split apart so that Tama could go find Makoto...

If the students weren't lying, then after Tama and Ran split up, nobody saw Tama ever again. So, if Ran chose to go with Tama at this juncture in time, surely she'd be able to acquire more clues.

Ran, moving about on her own...

According to the alibis of the girls that Ran considers most suspicious- namely, Sai and Makoto-, the power room is an extremely critical location. Furthermore, Tama apparently headed here immediately after leaving Ran. Perhaps engaging in a recollection of this location at an even earlier point would allow Ran to capture a clue of some kind.

The jammed cabinet at the tea party...

Sai had expressed some disappointment with regards to the cabinet of red tea that couldn't be opened at the tea party; she'd wanted to try some of the tea stored therein. She did suggest, though, that she could probably fix the cabinet if she had access to the tool room. Ran, who'd entered the tool room herself last night, might be able to help her with that.

After helping Koizumi apply medication...

Carrying the complete set of memories with regards to Koizumi Hyuga, Ran has a second thought when it comes time to leave the infirmary, and ultimately decides to stay behind, and have a proper conversation with her teacher from the old days.

Ran: (This is a pretty good recollection point. I can follow alongside the victim and carefully observe the surroundings. Hopefully I'll pick up on something.)

Ran: You go ahead and look for her if you're worried. I'll keep looking around.

Tama bows hastily and then is about to run off.

Ran: Actually, wait, Indou.

Ran: I changed my mind. I'm kind of curious about the power room, so I guess it's not a terrible idea to go check it out and maybe see why exactly the power went out.

Tama: Ah, okay, then I'll send Asakura-san a text so she knows we'll be going to find her.

Tama focused intently on the screen of the phone, holding it with her left hand and tapping the numpad with her right hand, letter by letter.

Ran had to help steer Tama, because she was so focused on the phone that she wasn't paying attention to where she was walking.

Ran: (She really wants to see Asakura, huh.)

Tama was muttering the words she was typing in under her breath. Her input speed was pathetically slow, and her steps were wavering. Ran couldn't help but surreptitiously try to help support her by her shoulders, so that she didn't trip over herself.

Ran: (Indou's shoulders are so tiny, and her expressions and movements are sooo cuuuuuute.)

Both the Ran inside and outside the recollection were thinking the exact same thoughts.

Ran: (Still not as cute as the photos of miss Sakura though. If those photos of her could start moving around I bet they'd be even cuter than Tama!)

Tama only finished typing the text when they were halfway across the schoolyard. Ran surreptitiously pulled her hands back.

Tama: Ah, I'll take you to the power room now, Ibuki-san.

Ran: (...She didn't notice I was steering her by the shoulders at all, did she.)

Ran: (There's a bit of distance from here to the power room. I hope that the me in the recollection decides to have a conversation with Tama on the way. Is that something that the past me would have decided to do?)

Ran: Y'know, Indou, I feel like Asakura's one of the most capable people at this school, when it comes to taking care of herself.

Tama: You're suggesting that I'm needlessly worrying about her, Ibuki-san?

Ran: (Oho. Conversation initiated.)

Ran nodded.

Tama: I just felt like I should do something for her, like I really wanted to provide her with faithful service, just like how I took care of the young mistress, before.

Ran: (She really just used the word 'service', huh. ...Just which family did Tama serve under back then, anyways?)

Ran: What kind of person was your young lady, Indou?

Tama: The young mistress, she was... an icecube.

Ran: Uh. You mean... she was cold and frigid to others?

Tama: A bit, but more, uh. Icecubes feel very cold to the touch, and they feel really hard and rigid, but actually they're very unstable, y'know? At any point they might melt and evaporate away and disappear tracelessly for good.

Tama: That was the impression the young lady gave off, to me. After the earthquake, she and I relied on each other to survive. If I weren't around, the young lady would surely have... evaporated.

Ran: I see.

Ran: (I didn't want to hear a goddamn flowery metaphor! I wanted specifics! First name and last name!)

Ran: (But, according to Indou, to her, Asakura is the same kind of person? Someone who would 'evaporate' if she were separated from Indou??)

Ran: (Did the culprit not ambush Tama on the way to the power room, then??)

Ran: (Then again, in the recollections, I'm usually not particularly focusing hard on the environment and the surroundings, so I can't be sure that I just missed something, either.)

Ran: Sure is quiet. I thought a generator room would be louder.

Tama: Perhaps it hasn't been fully repaired, yet.

Tama: The door's locked. Asakura-san doesn't seem to be around.

Ran: Mm. Well, since there's no sound, then it probably means she hasn't finished repairing it, so I bet she's gone to get some more tools or something.

Ran: Shall we continue our stroll elsewhere?

Tama: I'd like to wait here for Asakura-san. Since the repairs aren't done, she'll surely come back eventually.

Ran: (She really wants to see Asakura, huh. And just like she said, Tama really did just wait here indefinitely for Makoto.)

Ran: Alright, then I'm heading out.

Ran: (My decision to travel with Tama might have disrupted the killer's plan, preventing anything surprising from happening on the way here.)

Ran: (But it's equally possible that Tama was only killed after this point in time in the real timeline as well. In any case, it looks like this is all that this recall point's giving me. Let's see what clues the other recollections have for me.)

Sai: Oh, Ibuki.

Ran: How convenient! I was just about to send you a text asking you where the power room was.

Ran jogged up to the two of them.

Makoto: We're heading there as well right now. Let's go together.

Sai: Since you've got Ibuki now, you probably don't need me anymore? If so, I'm gonna go home and sleep. I'm a bit tired after swimming, and I've gotta study for tomorrow's classes.

Ran: (Oh, so even you know that swimming can tire you out, huh. No need to worry about the next day's classes, though. Those're getting cancelled no matter what.)

Ran: Say, Asakura, did you get the text from Tama? She said she was looking for you.

Makoto: Is that so?

Makoto checks her pockets, but doesn't find her phone.

Makoto: Don't seem to have my phone on me. I must have dropped it in the electrical room.

Ran: Eh? So you didn't recruit Yano by texting her?

Makoto: C'mon, everyone knows she's always at the swimming pool.

Ran: (Is she that anxious to see Indou? Those two sure have a special relationship.)

When the two of them got close to the power room's door, though, Makoto slowed down.

Her gaze focused on the door's room. After lingering there for a few seconds, she started to look around.

Makoto: Looks like Tama hasn't shown up yet. She'd be here waiting for me if she had.

Ran: (It is indeed as she says.)

Ran: Befitting your name. So, what do we do? Go find her?

Makoto: Mm... Let's fix the power, first. The rest of our classmates are still waiting on the power to come back, after all.

Makoto: If there's nothing you want to take a look at, how about helping me put the lid back on the generator.

Makoto: Oh, the back room? Mostly for spare parts and electrical cables. I haven't locked it yet. Are you interested in taking a look?

Ran pushes the door open, revealing that the contents of the room were exactly what Makoto had described. Just a bunch of steel shelves with spare parts.

There was a tarp on the ground with a bulge under it. Ran guessed that it was probably coils of electrical cables underneath.

Ran: (I see.)

Ran: This model of generator looks pretty old. Doesn't it get loud when it's running?

Makoto: Of course. At the start when I was trying to figure out where the problem was, I had to run it while it was in full operation. Damn near blew off my ears.

Ran: I don't really get it, but it sounds pretty dangerous.

TEMPORARY POINTS INCREASED BY 1

Discover an abnormality inside the generator (REQUIRES INVESTIGATION 8)

Place the lid back on

Spend Temporary Points

Ran, with her hands holding onto the edges of the generator's outer plating, noticed something strange.

The entirety of the generator was coated with dust and grime, but near the lower right corner, there was a part that was untouched by grime.

Ran: Asakura, is that the part that you fixed up?

Ran pointed to the part, and Makoto got closer to see what Ran was pointing to.

Makoto: Mhm. Swapped a new one onto it.

Ran found this curious. If this large generator could only be accessed by taking off the top cover alone, without any other disassembly points, repairing or maintaining certain parts of it, like the part that'd failed this time, would be incredibly challenging.

She leaned over, looking at the right interior surface of the generator, and quickly found an indentation at the bottom.

Ran stepped towards it, and pressed her finger into the indentation, where she found a latch. Pressing on the latch, the side plating of the generator immediately loosened.

Makoto: What is it?

Ran pulled her hand back. Subconsciously, she rubbed the finger she'd used. There was no trace of dust or grime on it.

Ran: I found that this piece of the outer shell could be removed as well. The side shell's much smaller than the top shell, and much easier to remove, and it grants more direct access to the place you were repairing.

Makoto: Oh, really? Let me see.

Makoto checks the shell for herself, and finds it easily detachable.

Makoto: Well, I'll be damned. You've got a sharp eye, Ibuki-san. If I'd know this part could come off as well, then I wouldn't have needed to spend all that effort getting the upper lid off.

Ran: So what I'm hearing is that I'm about to have to spend my strength on fixing what was already inherently wasted effort, then. Damn that Sai, dragging me here and leaving me stuck with this.

Makoto: Eh, just treat it as exercise!

Ran: (Damn, this lid's so heavy. My fingers are going to hurt once I've left the recall point.)

Ran: (What the hell is the point of this recall point?)

Ran: (Whatever, let's give it a shot.)

Ran: I'll get the screwdriver. I know where the tool storage room is.

Ran: (Why would- Ohhhhh. This way I can visit the tool room even earlier than normally.)

Ran: (Maybe I'll run into the culprit, trying to sneak out the murder weapon! Or some other clue I guess.)

Ran: (Since the tool rooms are always locked, I think this must be a recall point that I only get after I've picked the tool room's lock.)

Ran: (Interesting.)

Ran: Eh, maybe she forgot to lock it. It won't hurt if I just check, anyways, it's right there.

Sai: You sure are being weirdly prosocial tonight.

Ran: I just can't bear to see you be the only one here who doesn't have anything to drink.

Sai smiles. She could tell that Ran was just trying to do something nice for her.

Sai: Thanks, Ibuki.

Ran: I don't know what you're talking about, Sai.

She headed off before the conversation could get more awkward for her. As usual, Ran Ibuki had no idea how to respond to goodwill from any human being that wasn't Ann Sakura.

Ran: (Aaaaaaaaaahhhh I can't handle this PLEASE hurry up and go. I feel embarrassed just watching this from the side.)

Ran quickly reached the storage room, and turned the handle experimentally. Unsurprisingly, the door was locked.

She got out the lockpick she'd made before, and easily cracked opened the lock as she'd done before.

Pushing open the door, Ran fumbled in her pocket, trying to get her phone out for some illumination.

The moment she touched her phone, her field of vision was suddenly filled by crimson fissures.

After that was a momentary flash of pain. Ran Ibuki fell to the floor, her eyes rolling up in their sockets, blood leaking from her nostrils and from the corners of her mouth.

There was a new dent in her head, now, a massive concave pit, as though a whole chunk of her cranium had been sliced away.

Ran saw her attacker's feet in her field of vision, but she no longer had the ability to distinguish just who it was. Darkness descended, and took away Ran Ibuki's consciousness for good.

Ran Ibuki was flung out of the recollection, like a pilot who'd been forced to perform an emergency ejection. She returned to reality, and immediately bit down hard on the bedsheets, lest open her mouth and scream out loud.

The muscles of her body were tense, almost to the point of tearing. She clutched her notebook with both hands, her fingernails digging into the palms of her hands, and her legs kicked at the mattress uncontrollably.

She loosened her mouth, pried a corner of the notebook open, and immediately bit into and swallowed a random page.

The psychological pressure of dying in a recollection was alleviated by that act, but the pain of her physical body was still tormenting her.

Ran clenched her legs tight, rubbing them against each other, and emitted some seriously unseemly grunting sounds from her throat.

Sweat soaked her nightclothes and bedsheets, and yet her heartbeat was still accelerating. She wished she could just get rid of her head, as long as the pain would go with it.

Sai: Ibuki, are you okay?

Ran was afraid to open her voice and answer. She was afraid that the scream she'd been damming up would come bursting out if she loosened her grasp.

She just waved her hands in an irregular pattern, trying to gesture to let Sai know that she didn't need to worry about Ran.

Sai, perching atop the upper bunk, looking down at Ran from its edge, remained silent for a while before speaking.

Sai: Should I get Sakura?

Ran opened her eyes wide, letting the tears roll out and down her face. She opened her mouth, and tried to speak. The attempt proved unsuccessful.

She opened and closed her mouth several times, before finally managing to get a paltry few words out.

Ran: No need... It's fine.....

Sai: Well, okay then.

Sai could tell that Ran would rather others not know of her current state, so she abandoned this line of inquiry.

Sai: If you feel so unwell that you don't think you can handle it, then call me, okay? Even if I can't help directly, I can still get Ann over here for you or something.

Ran shrunk her neck inwards, closed her eyes tightly, and forced herself to nod. The notebook page she'd consumed was taking effect, at least. She could feel her brain slowly recovering from the concave form it'd been forced to assume.

She felt her faculties of reason reassuming control of her body once more, and placed her hand on the cover of the notebook once again.

Ran: (Next time, please prepare less... stimulating recollections for me, maybe.)

Ran: (So... what information can I get from this sneak attack?)

Ran: (The person who attacked me was either the culprit or working with the culprit, no doubt about that. Did I run into her as she just so happened to come back to return the murder weapon?)

Ran: (Or perhaps, the culprit ran into me just after she'd picked up the murder weapon, and was afraid I'd discover something out of place, and so she preemptively decided to silence me?)

Ran: (And it's hard to determine who it was that hit me, anyways. Even the students at the tea party could have found some excuse to leave their seat and tail me, once they'd heard that I was visiting the tool storage.)

Ran: (From the angle of the impact, the attack came from the rear upper side, downwards at an angle. But it's not like that's useful information. Even Aya could hit me from that angle so long as she was wielding something long enough.)

Ran turned over and sighed.

Ran: (So, what, I died for nothing, this time?? Maybe if I could do that recollection another time I'd learn something else, but... I'd honestly really rather not.)

Ran: (Well, at least, let's write down the time that I got attacked.)