I enter the room looking dejected. I walk over to a corner and watch every talk, not in the mood for food.
“Yes I was with Hachijo in her office. We were waxing on about old times, we were a couple of old friends Hachijo and I. Oh the trouble we could cause when we were yet younger to think now that all I have left of her are those few precious memories… But at any rate during our conversation Battler entered to inquire about speaking about work matters, which Hachjio put off due to other matters. At that time Battler, and myself left the office together. For myself that was the last I spoke with Hachijo, I can’t attest for Battler though. As for the investigation Hachijo’s room as undisturbed from what I could tell.”
“My son was not able to speak to Hachijou after you both left, this I can attest to. Although I do have to ask, since you were able to talk to her at length… was there anything off? Did she seem worried or stressed by anything?”
“Anything off…no I don’t think so. Mostly we were just retelling old stories, other than that we spoke briefly of the success of her new book. She did seem maybe a bit stressed dealing with whatever it was she was working on, but I personally attributed it to nothing more than the rigors of life as an author.”
“If I could just clear this up once and for all, when did this conversation between Hachijo and yourself start, and when did it end?”
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Shannon sets what appears to be another meal aside. (Maybe she hasn’t had anything to eat yet… Poor girl.) Hearing @HeliosAlpha’s question, she replies.
【Shannon】「Hachijo-sama was not planning anything like that to my knowledge. She does have a few places she likes to go to think and relax, however. Maybe you found one of her places?」
Shannon smiles as she says that.
Battler quietly thanks his dear old papa Peeps for sticking up for him. Hearing @Funyarinpa’s question, he responds.
【Battler】「Hmm. Well, as @Aulin pointed out there was an email on her computer screen that seemed interesting. It said something to the effect of “Come to the tree if you want to get it back.” We had checked the email address but neither of us recognized it. Seemed that the sender had sent quite a few emails to her. That email is still open in her office. We didn’t touch it. Aside from that, there wasn’t really anything there.」
Battler seems to be wondering about something, but doesn’t voice it.
Next, he hears @Karifean’s question and responds as follows:
【Battler】「Oh, @Bowiie and me left together. She was still in her office when we left.」
Shannon, noticing that nobody else is addressing her, grabs the food she prepared earlier and begins to walk out. As she takes her third or fourth step, the sound of a door opening loudly is heard. (The backdoor?)
Two people are talking in the distance. Their voices are unfamiliar to any of the guests.
She thinks she has whispered it, but everyone can plainly hear Shannon muttering to herself, “Kanon… -kun?”
It appears Shannon has recognized at least one of the voices. The other voice apparently belongs to a man as well. Shannon then leaves the room.
It’s unclear what’s being said in the other room, but one blurb comes through clearly:
【？？？】「Ah, hey! That was supposed to be my breakfast, Kumasawa!」
A short while later, Shannon walks into the room again, with two people behind her.
【Shannon】「I’m sorry for the disturbance everyone.」
She looks down as though embarrassed by all of this, but quickly regains her composure.
【Shannon】「I don’t believe anybody has had a chance to meet him. This is Kanon, the gardener. He’s often in his private dwelling, in the forest.」
【Kanon】「…」
Kanon bows.
【Shannon】「And this man here is…」
【？？？】「Hello! I’m Sabakichi Kumasawa. You can call me Sabakichi.」
Sabakichi responds, while holding a bento box. (Kanon looks displeased…)
【Kanon】「I found him walking around earlier this morning.」
【Sabakichi】「I happened to drift ashore! I’m a fisherman you see. Haven’t been doing well on catches recently… Hahaha. So I stayed out longer than I should have and got caught up in the storm.」
Shannon seems baffled by all of this, but goes back into the kitchen and starts preparing another box.
【Kanon】「Shannon, where’s Hachijo?」
【Shannon】「…」
Kanon approaches Shannon, noticing her being unusually quiet. Shannon whispers to him. After a moment Kanon looks shocked.
【Sabakichi】「Somethin’ happen?」 (addressing the room in general)
Hey everybody! MetaNotKyon here. Enjoying the ride so far? This development is interesting, huh? Sorry if I’m not portraying the characters tolerably here. Anyway, if I left any PMs or posts unaddressed please let me know, I might have just missed them.
I meant to have this out three hours ago, by the way. I got distracted all on my own though, sorry for that. If it looks like we’re not able to wrap up soon enough, I may extend the discussion by a few hours if it seems like it’ll make a difference.
Okay! Regarding teams, now is a good time to begin forming alliances! If you do form an alliance, be sure to post a list of your team members (with yourself included!) here.
Guess that’s it for now. Sorry for this text-wall of a post! I included pictures this time to make up for all the text! (Though I guess some of you may be used to things like this from me by now.)
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Also, I’m sure it can go without re-stating, but don’t stress over any resemblance to characters from Umineko. Please treat them as if this is your first time seeing them.
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As everyone is busy listening to the introductions of Kanon and Sabakichi Kumasawa, I decide to quietly address the issue I ran into earlier. “By the way, Rosa, you wouldn’t happen to know what happened to that toothbrush you brought here for me, would you?”
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【Rosa】「Your toothbrush? It should be back in the case, in my bag.」
Rosa is apparently confused by this question.
“That’s what I thought you’d say. However, I was back in our room earlier and couldn’t find it anywhere. Moreover,” I inch closer so that Maria can’t hear us “it seems that doll Maria brought with her is also gone, and one of the light bulbs in the room was missing. Nothing else was out of place… but it seems apparent someone was in our room uninvited.” I pause for a bit. “The more I think about it the more I believe this might have just been a prank in poor taste…” I recall the mental note I made of @EisenKoubu’s expression earlier. “…by someone with a twisted sense of humor.”
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Rosa looks over at Maria, seemingly searching for something.
【Rosa】「She’s missing her doll?」
Rosa looks noticeably angry and begins glaring at @EisenKoubu. (Sorry Eisen!)
Maria just looks confused.
【Rosa】「I think I know who did it.」
Shannon looks over and appears to have acknowledged the situation. It seems likely that she’ll provide replacements for what she can shortly.
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“Here! When I was walking back to the dining room, a witch appeared and produced this out of thin air.” I say, tossing an toothbrush (still in its packaging) to @Karifean “Just kidding. I always bring a spare.”
(to everyone) “I investigated the attic, but I didn’t find anything useful. It seems that Hachijou spent some of her free time up there.”
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「As I believe the dire situation we all have found ourselves in require full disclosure, there are a couple of things I want to know regarding our new acquaintances.」
「Firstly, in what part of the forest is Kanon-kun’s livings located?」
「Secondly, Kumasawa-san, if you’re an experienced fisherman, I assume your accident didn’t occur until after the storm grew stronger and the lightning started, correct? But more importantly, Kanon-kun claims he found you wandering around, so where have you been wandering since last night?」
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As everyone has been speaking, I’d been taking down notes on my notepad, writing down every detail that seemed prevalent, nodding at Kanon and Sabakichi as they entered, and ears twitching slightly as I picked up everything the group was saying, although my food had gone completely untouched.
Once I’d finished writing down everything said thus far, I placed my pen on my left ear, and put my notepad under my arm before speaking softly the moment a break in the talking occurs.
“Erm… I have just a small question… if there’s a possibility of a killer being around… I’ve been feeling quite unsafe walking around on my own… if anyone would be nice enough to be willing to accompany me around, I’d be most grateful.” (If it isn’t obvious, this is a team invitation.)
Pepe approaches Maria, ruffling her hair a bit
"Sweet child, I do hope you haven’t been to scared by this whole incident. How have you been faring? I hope all these visitors haven’t been intimidating you too much.
It was good of you to stay upstairs for the meantime, what with all the ruckus we were doing around here. Were you just playing in your room? Next time, you should invite me to play along! Grandpapa would be more than willing to accompany you in your adventures~"
Pepe makes sure to take a note of @EisenKoubu, @Karifean, and Rosa’s faces as he says this to her
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I approach @Pepe and Maria mid-conversation, and reach out to shake Pepe’s hand.
“Nice to meet you, oji-sama. I’m EisenKoubu. I heard some faint rumors that you are Maria’s grandpappy, am I wrong? It’s a pleasure to meet the rest of the family.”
I try my best to act casual and pry my eyes off Maria, wearing as friendly a smile as I can.
“You know, I empathize with Maria. All this mystery work here just isn’t doing good for me. It’s like that one moment of Blue Heart Wicked! where the protagonist throws up and never goes out again after being rejected once. Minor spoilers, by the way. (wink) What I mean to say is that I think you are right in being protective of her, but that doesn’t mean you have to be alone in doing so. I would gladly help if you feel she needs it.”
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After a quick scan of my notes, I turn to look at @tanasinn.
“Hachijou spent her free time in the attic? How do you know of this? Was there some kind of indication?”
Pepe starts lighting his pipe as he replies
“The pleasure is all mine, Mr. Koubu. May I call you that? And yes, while Maria does call me her Grandpapa, I am not related to her in such. But you’d best believe me when I say that I view her as one of my own grandchildren, perhaps to the chagrin of her own parents.”
“I’m not too familiar with this Blue Heart Wicked that you speak of, but if that is one of your salacious works I do not think I would like to know any further. And like as you may, that is all up to the decision of herself and her family. Frankly I do not think you need my permission if you genuinely want to help her. Perhaps you should have done that instead of giving her strange looks for the past few hours.”
Pepe says as he blows a puff of smoke in Eisen’s direction
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“I do not smoke, sir. Nor do I write such works. I only came here because of a business deal with Hachijou. I might as well have fun while I’m doing so. If you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some books to read and some toothpaste to smear on a certain lead’s wall.”
I leave Pepe’s presence while chuckling deviously to myself. 
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(@StarTurner) “Well, there wasn’t much there, really. A few books, a table and chair are all I could see. There’s a single stained-glass window that faces that tree but it doesn’t open so I don’t think it had anything to do with recent events…”
“I thought I seen you heading off in the direction of the beach earlier, did you see anything interesting there?”
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