adsum | npc contact.1

[ People leaving and coming back sounds pretty normal to Hiro, considering the school is supposed to be closed anyways, but the mention of a giant wolf head makes him wrinkle his nose.

He puts his hands up by his head like wolf ears, and then gives Stephanie his best "Why the fuck are you keeping a head, that's gross" look. ]

[ It wasn't so much the game he wanted, than it was making it with Nanami, but he can't say that. ]

No thank you. To both offers. I'll make it up to you later...

[ Playing a game of his choosing after means voluntarily spending more time with Komaeda and he's not falling for it! Has he been walking back to school this entire time, I can't remember, I think he tried, but he's walking again now. ]

What— no!

[ Stop, stop. He moves so he's properly standing in front of Rika, looking her up and down. ]

What happened? Are you okay?!

( me like is this an attempt to ending the thread or is komaeda playing a game of hunt, which he will because they can go inside the school now, and he'll latch onto the back of his shirt. again.

... )

( she blinks, a little surprised. )

Huh? What do you care? ( he didn't even MISS HER!!! ) I'm fine though, obviously. Nothing can get ME!

[ He has plenty to rely on like what? who?

Just Komaeda, in front of him, doing his best to encourage him like he tends to do, even when Rokkun's gut reaction is to push back. Even Akki who he's working with, it's more of a business partner relationship than anything else, and he knows what Akki thinks of him.

He looks down at the stone still in his hands, remembering the last time he had held one.

... ]

I know. I didn't spend all these years here to have nobody on my side, even if they're not at my side.

[ Plenty of people he's on good terms with. His classmates, his kohai, the art club members, the soccer team... He doesn't have to start off with big secrets; a test run can be something small, like... ... ...lending somebody a pencil, and trusting they give it back at the end of class. ]

You almost got burned to death??

[ Ohhhhhhh my god, nobody in this school knows empathy ]

Why is that the usual? It shouldn't be.

( his eyes drop to the stone in his hand, watching the way the other is observing it, but komaeda won't take it back — it doesn't belong to him. wishes, things like that... they're more for rokkun than himself. )

As long as you believe in their hope, use their hope to strengthen yours... they're by your side. You distance yourself too much, especially when you're likeable... an idiot, but can be well-liked.

( he probably doesn't need people to like him, but he'll reach up, and lay his organic hand on top of his head, fingers moving through his hair to see how soft it is. ...

... )

If you need names, Sakasaki-kun, Hinata-kun, and Helena-kun may not know you as... well as I do.

( can he say that, it feels like... he's intruding on something. )

You can rely on them, I doubt they'll want to see your foundation struggle anymore than it has... Hope can be made with others, and that way it'll shine bright, and knowing you'll be part of that before my time is up will be rather rewarding.

[ asdflkjh it's both, the moment Akki can get out the front door it's over for him, but he has to decide whether he wants freedom enough for Komaeda to tear the back of his shirt and have to walk home like that. ]

Don't be like that... I'll see you tomorrow, okay?

[ As soon as the words leave his mouth he mentally kicks himself, because yes they're students and so seeing each other is unavoidable, but also oh noooo, they're students and so seeing each other is unavoidable ]

[yeah, for a baby. are you a baby, npckun?]

Then we'll keep that in mind, and adjust our schedule accordingly. Though if it gets too late, and you get tired, I'm sure someone has a spare bed.

[completely just not thinking about this having a chance of not happening, it seems.]

( slowly his fingers allow akki's shirt to slip out of his grasp, like he's trying to process what was said to him. for a brief moment, his mouth parts like he doesn't get it, but then he smiles, and allows his arms to drop down by his side.

he doesn't believe it for a moment, but he'll dig his hands into his pocket. )

Umm... ( he shuffles awkwardly in place, holding onto something in his pocket that he messed with for a bit... he's unsure, but he pulls out a voice recorder that he got from ethics, holding it in his hand as he waves at the other. is it to show it off? has it been recording? is this his way to expose himself and to be a better person? well... ) If you're sure, Fujioka-kun...

( now komaeda will leave!! )

[ maybe they're baby

or just childish, trying to think of reasons not to do something that Helena is able to find a solution to all their worries, and can't know 100% why they're so nervous about all of this. Being away from the one place they feel safe, being around a bunch of strangers, being a... a guest, a visitor, a friend... There's no guideline for how to behave, unlike the shopkeeper role. ]

...What do you guys do in the dorms? Play with rocks?

[ ?? what do you even do with so many rocks ]

I'm not gonna judge how the guy who had his arm ripped off copes with it. [a shrug] Besides, people who hunt put stuff on their walls, like deer antlers. My uncle always says he's gonna get the fish he catches mounted on the wall, but he never catches anything big enough.

[ WHEN IS NATSUME GOING TO SET KOMAEDA ON FIRE ]

( MAYBE IF HE HAD PLAYED WITH KOMAEDA :( )

[ His hair is... passably soft. Soft enough to swish around when he turns his head, but not as soft as npc-kun's

Komaeda's "using people's hope" is the same as Rokkun's "using people" which is objectively not a great thing. He recognizes that, along with the fact that he keeps people at arm's length, wanting to be surface-level liked but nothing deeper than that, nothing that makes people try to see him.

And here is Komaeda listing the names of people who saw him, a pitiful him no matter how Komaeda praised him, a memory he had locked away so he could forget his failures and only look forward from now on. ]

Hope made of pity...

[ He sighs, leaning back. He likes Hinata well enough, being classmates, but hasn't had much reason to talk to the other two. They only feel sorry for him because they saw him die. It's those sorts of thoughts, justifications he comes up with on his own and decides to be truth, that makes it hard not to distance himself. ]

[ Even if it's deer and fish he makes a bit of a face at that. And then a different face, that's trying to figure out how to charades a particular word, this one is harder.

Oh.

He points a finger at the poster, specifically the P in Stephanie's name, looking over at her to make sure she's looking before he moves onto the next letter:

R... E... S... E... R... V... A... T... I... V... E...

He's very grateful that her title even includes the elusive V. ]

[ Oh. Imagining her saying it and hearing it out loud are two different things and it takes Hanako off guard for a moment, flush creeping to his cheeks that he hopes isn't too noticeable as he tries to play it off and cup Nene's cheeks in his hands, lifting just slightly so her smile is pulled a little wider. ]

You're my favorite too.

[ It goes without saying, but... maybe he can stand to say it out loud once in a while too. ]

What? You're full of excuses today, aren't you?

( can pity be used to make hope? he's only believed in strong hope, a hope that would define the future, and how it's light would cover everyone in it — that sort of warmth is rare, wanted, and yearned for. he almost feels offended, but two of them do lack talent so their hope is... no, helena has a little hope, a small demonstration from her abilities. it's enough for komaeda to decipher how much she has, how much the others do. )

Hardships, difficulties, the throes of despair... all of that mixed in is what they went through, there are times they died, no, did die... solidified their fears, all because you gave them that chance to grow... they only have that hope because you allowed them to have it. If you call that pity which was made from your own courageous will from start to finish, you really do hate me. You proved to be a challenge, and a difficult one... if you call that hope they made pity, what do you think of yourself...

( because of all people, he's never wanted to hear rokkun judge hope, who is he... to even define it, when komaeda's the one who works definitions. he bites his tongue, contemplating whether he should just cause a little scene because he can. he refrains, watching him. )

[long pause]

Oh, yeah. That's probably important, right? Yeah. Probably.

[and then just says nothing further.]

[ PLEASE...

Hiro is a member of the science club, officially, even if it never became relevant, but maybe it all leads up to him needing Stephanie to make sure the thing is preserved properly so it doesn't start rotting and dripping off the wall. ]

Some people might. I read, or ask people questions about many things, or I write. Everyone has a way of making their own fun - even if some of it I don't understand at all. Like Natsume saying he's trying to hex someone...I'm not quite sure what that's about.

[she shrugs, but chuckles - whatever makes someone happy.]

Anyway, I don't wish to force you, but I hope you can consider it, and decide for yourself. The door will always be open to you, you know.

Bwehh!!!

( that is the absolutely graceful noise she makes at him pinching at her face like that, idly papping at his arms- even if it's silly, and she wants to go back to being held, she doesn't actually mind. much.

for a few more seconds. eventually she shakes free, puffing out her cheeks with a pout before... squeezing at his hands in her own. )

... I'm glad you're back safe. I-

( needs him, can't imagine life without him- even if she'll have to face it- wants him by her side always- )

I missed you, Hanako-kun.

[ They're quiet, aside from a nervous little feet shuffle, because Amami had also suggested reading a book and taking a break once in a while, and there is something they need to finish writing, but all of that... They can and do do in the comfort of their room, late at night under the glow of their suncatchers. ]

Okay...

[ The shuffling stops. ]

Will you sit with me if I go?

[ They barely know anybody............ if they go and Helena's in her room and nobody they know is in the public spaces they're going to turn right back around and leave and never come back ]

I'm sure the grownups thought of that already. It'll be fine. [it probably isn't]

You seem to know more about it than I do! Have you ever preserved something like that?

npc contact.1

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