adsum | npc contact.1

[ Making him wait until lunch time... Whatever excitement there might be doesn't keep him from putting his head down in his arms during classtime, though, zzzing straight through the morning lessons but managing to wake up just in time for lunch. ]

He does have a point... [honestly that electric fence is looking real good right now.] Very busy...

You said that... you had to die to be here, so it's the same for all of us... to be admitted into this school, each of us have to be dead?

( he looks at him, gauging his reaction because he'd know better since it was his memory, and why he's so keen on dealing with this school the way he does. how he wants the others to forget about him and his past, not to bring it up because god knows what would have happen if hinata walked his happy ass up to rokkun like btw we helped you when you were dying...! )

Because you said if you survived, then you can't be here... it seems pretty simple when proposed in that manner.

[ There's that silence that follows his words again, as if Maya were carefully choosing what she wants to say, more so than she usually does. ]

What part about being dead?

[ For a lot of people, it's the uncertainty of what comes after death, but here they are. For others, it's never being able to see their loved ones again, but graduation holds the promise otherwise. ]

( they're both acting like children, and rokkun didn't even try to fake it... oh no. )

Stephanie wants to talk to you, so if you could stop being dead for about thirty minutes...

( there's this part of komaeda that wants to throw stephanie in the pool sooooo bad, but he's trying to be normal. )

She even brought a peace offering... ( pats her shoulder, go young one, komaeda will watch and not get in the way of a nice, genuine conversation between two friends. )

[ THIRTY MINUTES he doesn't want to talk to Stephanie for thirty minutes, what conversation lasts that long

But he won't deny the mention of a peace offering gets his attention. ]

Is that why you're here, Nagito?

[ To be the peace offering. ]

[... a brief moment where it's very clear she wants to say something other than what she's going to say but is also aware komaeda might just murder them all right then and there, so.]

It's candy, actually. [don't] Actual candy.

["NOT BOYCANDY," screams the tiny trixie in her mind.]

[ Oh, this friendship thing isn't so bad, if these are the perks that come with it. npc-kun makes the mental note to brag to Komaeda later that they made a friend. ]

Alright!

[ Phew, not having to worry about paying Subaru back. Unlike Natsume, npc-kun doesn't believe in give-and-take, at least not in equivalent exchange.

...

But there is something they want to do. ]

Actually, I've got something for you. It's a pair of super special rocks I've been saving, I haven't let anybody else buy it! Since you're going to be helping me out, I'm going to give it to you as payment upfront!

...

( you know the dvd tape where dvd floats on the tv and never hits the corner, pray that it doesn't hit the corner with this conversation because it's going over his head. )

I've came to watch over the peace, as you know... hope means a lot to me, and I hear both you and Stephanie are at the oddest of ends.

( soft sigh, inhale. ) You should thank her for bringing this to you, because... as you know, I'm not one for sweets.

( you think amami is letting go? for real? no. keep dreaming. komaeda is stuck next to them, and if he keeps stepping away like that, amami's gonna end up in this awkward leaning position where he's half-way attached to ko like a leech and halfway making sure he's holding onto kamo-kun to give them some security. well, in the end he'll just yank komaeda back, pretty hard so that he'll hopefully stumble a couple steps closer than he really needs to be, actually.

as for the question... )

It's a pool, so... Swim, I guess?

( he doesn't sound too sure of that answer himself but, well, that's the assumption he'd made. and kamo-kun can wipe their face on his shirt as much as they want. they have laundry machines now, so he'll hardly complain. )

There's no reason we can't come back another time if it scares you. We'll find another adventure to take you on instead.

[ Oh. It's a general "everybody in this school" us, not a "Rokkun and me" us. The interest diminishes after realizing that, but also the anxiety, so he can't be too upset. Not like if Hinata were to walk his happy ass up to Rokkun like btw we helped you when you were dying...! ]

It makes the most sense, doesn't it? If I had survived... I would have gone home. I would have had dinner, put my brother to bed, read a book... kept living. But instead, I open my eyes and I'm here.

No, but you're not above bribes. She has no reason to make a peace offering.

[ just talking like Stephanie isn't there

But really, they have no reason to talk, they've gone all this time not crossing paths until he'd sought her out for recruitment, and they can so easily go back to never crossing paths again, no hard feelings. ]

( Don't be so cautious, Maya... It puts him on edge, like she's deciding how to deliver news he might not be ready to hear.

Is there ever a specific part? There's a lot of them—he isn't afraid of dying but he's afraid of leaving things undone or unsaid, of not being able to watch over carefully planted seeds and being able to help them grow in the way he wants them to. )

The part where I can't go back to how everything was before I DIED.

( Never mind the, well, the obvious. )

I have too many things left unfinished—reGRETS, I suppose anyone would call THEM. I've been trying to understand this school and how we came to be here so that we—I—could find a way BACK, whatever the cost might BE, to return to our ordinary LIVES. So that I could return to Sora and Senpai, and...

( ... )

Does it matter what part of being dead scares ME, or are you just stalling for TIME?

[ UNSURE... Swimming in the dark is how murder happen. Besides, they can't...

...

Anyways, if Amami manages to reel Komaeda in close enough, npc-kun will let go enough to reach out and grab the leg of Komaeda's pants, they're helping. ]

Swimming isn't an adventure. It's cold and wet. It's hard to move and hard to see and hard to breathe.

[ It's sort of the opposite of adventure, where you're just there and nothing is happening but you feel like you're dying anyways. ]

[she isn't immediately raging out over being ignored, but there's a flintiness to her voice already.]

Komaeda is my reason. You're important to him, and he's important to me. He even knew you'd like these [glances down] hot toe-males. He also committed maybe a slight crime to get them! That's the most considerate thing I've ever seen him do for a human! Ever!

[when lunch comes around, Steph takes him by the hand and leads him through the crowds, stopping whenever she finds a relatively trafficless location. she turns and looks at him, bouncing nervously on her heels.]

... Okay, so. How are you with dancing?

We would have never met if that was the case, but here we are... "alive" in our caskets for... what, that goal called "graduation", well... third years, anyway.

( komaeda already heard what happens with the first and second years, they don't get that chance, and all komaeda knows now is play a stepping stone until his end comes. it's not like he isn't familiar with that plan. to die, to be able to come here, forgoing everything of their past life because it's meaningless when they never got the chance to acquire it in the first place. when it's like that, komaeda can see why a memory like that isn't needed. )

A long time ago, you told me to open my eyes...

No, it doesn't matter what part scares you. [ At least this question, she can answer without hesitation. ] The consideration is still important, however.

[ The thinking matters, not turning away matters, acceptance matters. And it's something that takes time; this isn't a conversation that can be rushed. ]

If all of this is true, and you are able to go back, would you live any differently than you had before? Having regrets is at odds to wanting everything to go back to how it was.

I did say that.

[ He looks over at Komaeda, holds his gaze. ]

Are they open now? What do you see?

[ uh

Hope she isn't too surprised when he shakes his head, but what high school boy is good at dancing? The closest thing, maybe, is bobbing his head to music, but that's not a kinda cool thing.

He does point at her with his free hand, though, with a slight tilt of his head. How is she with dancing? ]

( since his hand is still on stephanie's shoulder, he'll lightly squeeze like it's a silent plea not to say something like that. )

...

( he huffs slightly, looking off to the side, because this isn't about him — it's about hope, and maybe he should be more firm about that. )

Tamales... ( ... ) Now, now... if hope here is bothered in any way, that gives room to despair, and since you're both hopeful individuals... I'd rather not have it brew between the group...

[ It's too late, she already said it, and despite himself and all of his willpower, it makes Rokkun smile. It makes him wonder what sort of face Komaeda is making, enough to turn around and float upright, facing them. ]

Hot tamales.

[ You eat something one time and everybody assumes it's your favorite. But he's not wrong and Rokkun holds his hands in front of him, as if to catch a ball, or a box of candy. ]

Alright, toss it here. I'll forgive you.

Me? At home, I was always dancing. Here... I don't know. At first, I thought it was just the lack of privacy. But, then we got the dorms, and I tried...

[she shakes her head. it hasn't felt right.]

But... There's one dance that's very special to me. It's... home, and family, and friends, and love. Safety. Peace.

[she takes a deep breath. stands, her feet apart, her hands splayed at her sides.]

It's not hard, I promise. All you'd have to do is copy what I do. Okay?

[because, even now, he can tell her no.]

( not him pulled at all ends, caught by amami and now in npc-kun's grasp, he can't help but sigh — wheezily. )

...Swimming is actually fun when you have others to share it with. I thought... ( it's almost embarrassing to say, but a smile picks back up on his face. ) an experience like that would be rare to go on together, so we could make do with what we had.

( they're in a school, unable to leave anytime soon. )

So bringing the beach to us seemed like the easiest alternative.

[she raises an eyebrow, turns her head and glances up at Komaeda for a moment...

when she tosses the candy, it's a gentle underhand.]

npc contact.1

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NOOO THATS SOOO CUTE but will rokkun shut up like lily does is the real question

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try it and find out

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sounds like bait whats the incentive here!!

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getting rokkun to shut up

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