RITA;

[goalsides]

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w0 friday

[goalsides]

[sometime later after most of the hustle and bustle has died down...taichi will slink back into the dorm, heading for the specialty room. should he be making coffee? no. is he going to? absolutely. it means that he's in there working on autopilot and making a drink with enough sugar and sweet scents that you can practically smell it out the door.

it's probably a good thing his reflexes are good though because he exits the room to head elsewhere, startling upon seeing rita.]

Hey. [calmly.] What the hell do you think happened last night? Weren't we all locked in?

[overlimit]

[rita's sitting on the arm of a couch and looking at her notebook, when she glances up.]

Hell if I know. I think I passed out pretty early in the night.

[rita's usually up at late-ass hours, anyway, so midnight's early for her.]

Something must have happened during that time.

w1 monday or tuesday you pick

[goalsides]

[the good thing, maybe, about dorm life is that there's always somebody around. that's also a bad thing when taichi isn't always up for talking to people, but when rita enters the room he looks up from the book in his lap and waves briefly.]

Coming or going?

[he did not pay attention to if she was on her way out or if she was coming back.]

let's say monday

[overlimit]

I just got back.

[rita's wearing her uniform with the jacket and scarf, though she doesn't remove them when she walks in. she just makes a beeline to a bookshelf and grabs a textbook. it seems she already knew which one she was going for.]

Stupid classes aside, I wouldn't say my day was all that eventful. What about you?

w1 friday

[goalsides]

[hey rita. how's it going? taichi's going to be sprawled on the grass outside of spring dorm. the geese may or may not be around. regardless, he's scrolling through his phone when he hears rita approach.]

You saw the announcement? What the hell was that about?

[overlimit]

[rita's walking around in her canon outfit with a scarf around her neck. she stops and folds her arms once they're in talking range.]

What else? Another murder, and another joke of a trial to be held tomorrow. I assume.

w1 sunday

[goalsides]

[meanwhile, back at the dorm...

...he will hand rita a cup of coffee wherever she is. the dorm is maybe still trashed by tsuyukusa and everything but it's fine.]

...so. How do we do better?

[overlimit]

[rita's just sitting on the floor somewhere. there are chairs here, but this is just a floor kinda day. she takes the cup and stares into it, looking pretty deflated.]

Well... I don't think we can do much worse.

w2 friday

[goalsides]

hey
you okay?

[overlimit]

I'm fine. Did you find anything?

w3 monday

[goalsides]

[it's monday! things are...you know, the way they are. and it means that taichi's going to find rita at some point on campus and wave briefly.]

Have you looked at the new buildings yet? One of them looks like something you'd like.

[overlimit]

Right, the laboratory? [rita actually sounds excited.] I haven't had a chance to take a good look at it yet, but I get the feeling I'm gonna be spending a lot of time there.

Week 3, Friday

[overlimit]

I know there's a lot going on, but are you good with visitors?

[rita here assuming this guy didn't just run out on an investigation, stares at ceiling]

[goalsides]

yeah. for sure, i'm...better than yesterday
i can come by the dorm though, i'm on the way back to mine

[please never assume he makes any good decisions rita.]

w3 sunday

[goalsides]

[after that mess...later, taichi will be out doing a few things and come across rita.]

...even if it ended up that way, I have to think Caiman really would've wanted us to end it.

[overlimit]

[rita's just sitting on the grass somewhere, hello]

I wonder. He obviously knew it was the end of the road for him, but...

... Even though he had some kind of screwed up dark side, he was practically a big dumb kid, most of the time.

w4 friday

[goalsides]

[ah, spring. the season of murder...taichi is out wandering and trying to get a feel for things, maybe figure out anything they might've missed, but eventually he will wander in rita's general vicinity and give a wave.]

How're things back at the dorm? A lot of people got pretty wrecked yesterday.

[overlimit]

[hey taichi! rita's emotions are a jumbled mess right now, though there's also some relief amidst it all?]

Yeah, it was pretty bad. Nature-boy's taking it well, at least. Maya... she's pushing herself, but I think she's going to be okay.

... Really wanna know what happened to those other two, though.

w5 tuesday

[overlimit]

You mentioned at the meeting today that you had a theory about the ripped pictures on the Dean's List? I've been trying to figure that out, myself. Mind sharing?

[goalsides]

sure. it's not a solid theory or anything but more like a pattern i noticed with some of us
mostly that the ripped pictures align with people who have either experienced the death of someone close to them, or they were the cause of someone else's death
it's a loose idea, but...just a thought

w5 sunday

[overlimit]

[after the execution, rita can be found leaning with her back to a tree near the dorms, her arms crossed and her eyes closed. they open when she hears footsteps, and when she sees taichi, she gives him a small nod to acknowledge his presence, though she doesn't say anything right away.]

[goalsides]

[at this point in time, taichi will always stop for rita. he's on his way elsewhere when he spots her, and when she nods he approaches a little closer and crouches down nearby.]

...another long morning, huh?

w6 friday

[goalsides]

[later, when things have died down, he's off seeking out one (1) rita. whenever he comes across her, he just...waves slightly.]

...how are things?

[overlimit]

[she's just walking out on the campus grounds! it's easy to catch up to her, because she's not moving very fast. and limping. she stops when she sees him approach, and... looks pretty relieved to see him.]

... Could be worse.

You back to normal?

w6 saturday

[goalsides]

[those were bad results either way, so it takes a bit before he sends a text.]

we can do this in person if you want, but i wanted to give you a choice considering what just happened
are you okay?

[overlimit]

I don't know. Maya's not. Denji's not.
Neither of them did anything wrong, damn it.

w7 monday

[overlimit]

[rita spots taichi outside, near the dorms. she approaches him, and without a word of greeting, just holds out a bookmark made with pressed flowers.]

Had a note with it saying it's "a gift delivered by someone else." And to "stay strong."

[goalsides]

[oh. he will take it and just...sigh.]

Thanks. [it's gonna go in his pocket for safe keeping.] We knew this was gonna happen, but it's still really shitty isn't it?

w7 saturday

[goalsides]

[wow...final night. after the proceedings of the day wind down, it isn't long after that that taichi approaches rita with a brief nod of greeting.]

...not exactly what I expected from today, but I can't say I'm not glad it's all over.

[overlimit]

Yeah... We went through a whole lot of stupid crap to get here, but it looks like we're finally going home.

What are you going to do, when you get back?