...THE FOURTH VICTIM?

[monoguests]

[Friday, Friday, gotta get down on...well, there's nothing to get down to, considering the music has stopped. There seems to be a distinct lack of Shadow Bugs too - has the threat of a murder been carried out?

Well, it can't hurt to check. Those who go by the showers will hear the sound of faint running water, and there seems to be...something in front of the Pokemon Center.]

Comments

[monoguests]

[Considering you just dragged her out of a cold shower and then through the snow? Fairly cold.]

[superstylishschism]

[WHY IS EVERYTHING AROUND HERE FULL OF COLD? Okay, okay...first off, are there any heated blankets around?]

[monoguests]

[Why would Monobear ever provide you the warmth and protection of a heated blanket?]

[superstylishschism]

[What kind of medical facility is this? Fine, he's going to open the door and carefully lay her next to it. At least the sweltering weather here can be good for something.

At a very quick search, is there anything resembling a bathtub?]

[monoguests]

[It's a Pokemon Center, it doesn't seem like there's anything resembling that nearby. Maybe you should focus on getting her up?]

[superstylishschism]

[Look, he can hope for something that'll help warm her up, okay? But maybe all the jostling of being carried and then being put somewhere sunny helped bring her closer to consciousness? So crouching down next to her, he taps the side of her face a couple times.]

Nephenee, can you hear me?

[sunflowerfields]

[Hinawa KICKS DOWN THE DOOR rushes in suddenly, out of breath from running all the way from World 1.]

Alastor! I heard the announcement, and I couldn't find anyone so I- Nephenee!

[NO NOT ANOTHER BABY]

[superstylishschism]

She's alive, but...she was unconscious with cold water running over her. But there's nothing here to use to warm her up, and-

[Wait. Belatedly, a thought strikes him. He fishes a Pokeball out of who knows where and releases Altaria in a flash of red.]

Altaria, try to keep Nephenee warm, okay?

[Hopefully fluffburd will be able to make up for the lack of decent warm blankets.]

[sunflowerfields]

[Hinawa could cry from relief. Actually, she already is, but she wipes away the tears because there are important things to do.]

We need to get her out of those wet clothes, then. They'll only make her worse.

[fluffbirb is doing a great job, but Hinawa is looking around for anything they can uses as a blanket, heated or not. Perhaps a certain redhead with a DS left one behind?]

[monoguests]

[As luck would have it, there are a ton of blankets behind the right-hand counter where the PokeMart would usually be.]

[sunflowerfields]

[Yoink!]

[tsungeonsanddragons]

[EVERYBODY CHILL THE FUCK OUT; FLUFF BIRB'S GOT THIS SHIT.

Altaria are pretty warm generally speaking, so this job shouldn't be too difficult. Though wow Alastor, don't treat it as a suggestion. You're the trainer here, brah.

Anyway, with a cheery hum, the sentient cloud hops over to Nephenee's body and envelopes her in its warm and incredibly fluffy embrace.]

[superstylishschism]

[He's stressed and doesn't want to end up snapping by accident, okay? But with the fluffy birdie doing what it can, he takes a breath and nods.]

I guess I'll leave her to you for now, then. Just let me know as soon as you've got her covered again, alright?

[sunflowerfields]

Of course. She looks like she was bleeding a little, why don't you go look for something to clean her up?

[SUCH A GENTLEMAN. Mom is proud. Have an errand. And now she's going to get to work peeling off Neph's clothes.]

[superstylishschism]

Yeah. I'll see if I can find some dry clothes that'll fit her, too.

[Which will conveniently take him to the final area left to investigate!]

[sunflowerfields]

[Once Hinawa gets her undressed, she spreads a blanket out on the floor and rolls Neph onto it. She covers her up with another, and makes a makeshift pillow out of a third. Wow, these sure were convenient.]

Nephenee, sweetheart, can you hear me?

[shslancer]

[Thankfully for everyone involved except maybe Monokuma but nobody cares about that bastard, the warmth of the area and the cotton ball birb slowly, but surely, started getting Nephenee out of the danger zone. By the time Hinawa's stripped her down and bundled her back up, she's much warmer than before. Good job, team!

This time, the gentle voice of the team mom stirs her slightly...the not-so-gentle splitting headache does the rest.]

Unh...

[Her face twists into a pained expression, and she exhales in what's almost a hiss, eyes shut tight. Holy moly, that hurts bad! Still, did she hear a voice?]

M-mom...?

[sunflowerfields]

[Hinawa lets out a huge sigh of relief. She's in rough shape, but she's ok.]

It's Hinawa, honey, I'm right here. Alastor brought you here, it looks like you took a bad tumble.

[She doesn't need to know that she was nearly a murder victim right this second, right?]

Just stay with me, all right?

[shslancer]

[YEAH THAT'S PREFERABLE, MOM.]

A-all right...Ah thought that was...ya Ah heard...

[She's still got her eyes closed, on account of being afraid the light's going to make the pain worse. Not really all there quite yet, she brings the arm closest to Hinawa out from under the blankets and, trying to sense where the other woman is, lays it down near her, like she wants her to hold it.]

A...tumble? Musta...hit somethin'...real good...

[sunflowerfields]

[She doesn't have to search for long, because Hinawa grasps her hand and squeezes tight.]

Ah... yes. I think you may have slipped in the shower. The water was running cold for a while, so you might end up with a few sniffles.

Alastor's gone to get some first aid, he'll be back soon.

[shslancer]

The shower...

[For a moment, it seems that's just a normal statement...before her breathing gets a little more deep.]

Y-yeah...A-Ah was..in the shower...an'...

[She's trying to think...it's on the edge of her brain, she can tell...the headache's making it hard to think, though.]

Ah...d-dang head's h-hurtin'...

[Her free hand goes up to touch near the wound...and she flinches when she realizes. her eyes opening in alarm.]

M-my helmet..!

[sunflowerfields]

Shhhhh. Shhshhhshhh. [You're being shushed.] We'll find your helmet later, okay? It wouldn't help your headache much.

[A tiny part of Hinawa wants to press her for more information about what happened at the shower, but she knows that, like the helmet, it wouldn't help Neph's head.]

[superstylishschism]

[Her search for her helmet will be further interrupted by a knock on the Pokecenter door before Alastor steps in with some washclothes, liquid soap and a very purple outfit that definitely isn't from the camp store.]

Nephenee! You're alright?

[shslancer]

[BUT. BUT MOM. HELMET. HEAD. THEY NEED TO BE TOGETHER. AND THEN ALASTOR.]

[Being the seasoned, veteran soldier and farmer she is, Nephenee takes this information and...

...pulls the blankets over her head with a super timid 'meep'.]

[sunflowerfields]

[MOTHER KNOWS BEST OK.]

Ah, Alastor! She's back with us now. [To Neph ] How about we get you cleaned up, then we can go find your helmet?