adsum | npc contact.1

[ Unlike the cat's subtle scratching and silent way it slips in, Shiraishi's footsteps are clear across the hall as he follows, and so is the amusement in his voice while he tears his glance from the row of lockers and turns the corner in full. If there's something to mark the door as the counselor's office, he gives it no more than a moment's glance and shows nothing in terms of response, though there's maybe a subtle change in his smile when he switches from man-to-cat interaction to man-to-man. The kind of small thing you could swear you imagined. ]

Heh, look at it go. Marched right in like it owns the place.

[ There's no mistaking he loves that, at least. He has half a mind to do the same to be honest, but this doesn't seem a large room, nor does it look like it opens to anywhere else where the cat could have gone. And the human at the door is one thing, but Shiraishi still doesn't want the animal he was stalking to startle and run from him after all, so he settles for stopping in front and the disrespect of just trying to peer past the other's shoulders inside, no invitation required.

How tall is the counselor anyway... I'm crying. But regardless, in the most conspiratorially joking tone you can imagine: ]

Just makes me want to know aaaall the more. What kind of secret are you hiding in there, I wonder?

[ If it's something that attracts the cat, do teach him. ]

( i could kill you for that sentence you made me read. )

I'm pretty useless when it comes down to it...

( all he has is a talent that keeps him... alive, he guesses, and who knows what else it has to offer him — maybe it's helped along the way at the beginning of the year to give them this hopeful situation they're in now. he doesn't try and pull away, he stays in that desperate grasp of theirs, knowing there's no reason to let them go. )

Someone ordinarily boring as me, it's why I'm willing to use your totems... ah, but after a year...

( he's only a first year, so everything's against him if he uses it now. ) I'm giving up everything, but that doesn't sound scary... so why are you scared? Don't you want me to fight with them too?

I... I see. Yes, I am very curious considering that I have not heard of them at all during these past months... They certainly would have been helpful in a number of incidents.

I certainly hope that the identification process goes smoothly.

[He'll just... keep on escorting them to the front door.]

Edited 2021-09-13 00:28 (UTC)

[ She's not the police, don't ask her. ]

Bodies have been identified with less. Do a headcount to assuage your worries, until the results return.

[ Assuming what they really care about in terms of who it is, is whether the person was a transfer student or not. ]

I wonder.

[ It's a low breathy laugh and an easy smile that the counselor gives him, on the taller side but not as tall as Shiraishi. Maybe that's why he likes to perch on his desk. ]

It seems that I have a session to attend to. I shouldn't keep him waiting.

[ You could

They pout but he can't see, expression hidden and no way to show him unless they let go, and the need to hang on wins out. ]

Is that the only way you can fight with them?

( looks up, closes my eyes. aratas................................mess...................... )

You should tell me, is your totems the only way?

( he'll be giving up his next year, lost to whatever consequence comes from every totem.

...

... )

Sell all of them to me, and then... whatever wins out, a gamble.

No.

[ Their answer to both. ]

You haven't convinced me.

As long as you're with someone, you're fine, huh?

[... this isn't even what he came to ask about, but it's so easy to talk to the other. part if it is because they're charismatic and charming, sure, but

part if it is because subaru sort of feels like they're the same, so he's like a star drawn into the orbit of anothers' gravity. and into their pace, too]

Yeah, me too~. [...] I really, reaally hate being alone.

[it's not very loudly spoken, and subaru's eyes remain on the ceiling as they make their way up to the roof. his smile's bright too, despite the topic.]

I mean, I'm more okay with it now, but a few years ago I did pretty much anything anyone asked just so they'd maybe, just maybe, stay longer than a minute or two. I don't think I could be alone for too too long anymore, though, 'cause it makes me uneasy.

[so that's why he's still constantly in people's business, at the heart of it]

To turn away your customer... how cruel.

( to convince them, hm... )

Why not let me convince you on the one that I want, you should tell me what they do.

( it's about in line with what amami had been thinking, so it's nice to hear it from someone else too. the new rules, they must also serve some kind of purpose, isn't that right? luckily he's been paying closer attention to them since finding that older set, so his recall on them is pretty good. )

A lot of them are about, I guess you'd call them personal boundaries.

"Do not give opinions or advice unless you are asked," and "When walking in open territory, bother no one." Well, that one is actually only half of the rule though: "If someone bothers you, ask him to stop; if he doesn't, destroy him." And another important one is about acknowledging the power of magic.

If you can convince me.

[ But he can't, there's no way, they believe in their stubbornness. ]

[ yogen counseling be like

He's not tall enough for Shiraishi not to see into the room then... (nms voice) what da cat doing. ]

Is that so? He seems more like the type who'd be after a dinner date though. And mostly the dinner part.

[ Didn't look like a cat that likes company to him, so what makes the counselor's office special? Suspicious. ]

[ There's a little dip of their head in their silence, because their agreement doesn't need to be said. Being a shopkeeper has people coming to them, a 24/7 shop that has no reason to be. Personality-wise, they're not good at convincing people to stay, so they make up for it by physically holding people there, little squeeze of Subaru's hand at the thought, and not enough guilt or shame for them to let go.

... ]

If you're alone and need somebody to be with, come to me.

I want the snake totem.

( he can convince, he got this. )

[ that's exactly what went through my mind during every single counselor thread i was forced to write repeating the same setting ]

He knows better than to come to me for that. Did he look hungry to you?

[ Counselor-kun snacks on nuts and crackers all day, he's not about to feed that sort of thing to a cat. Shiraishi, peering over the counselor's shoulder, can see the tips of two triangle ears poking out from behind the desk.

Cat's sitting on the counselor's chair he never uses. ]

Why?

[ Give them good reasons. ]

I'm interested in the shadows of those that I'm curious about... I love hope, and their shadows are no different.

( ... )

The expressions they make in that world now, they seem to be in pain... it breaks my heart to see such a thing.

( if only he meant it. ) I can't do anything if my fingers phase through them...

[subaru reflexively squeezes back, chest warming at the invitation. he has a lot of friends here. he knows he can always peek over his bed to talk to natsume, or seek out nene for cuddles. hang out with lena at the pool, have lunch with hiro. bother maya during music club to play this and that, even if she won't. hell, he can even go onto the pda and strike up conversations there. just to put off whatever bouts of loneliness he gets.

subaru knows he's blessed with people who want to stay with him, and want to be friends with him, but this one...]

I will. [a promise.] And if you're feeling lonely, then don't hesitate to find your way to me, too. I'm a star, so I'll always shine away your darkness. I wanna do that for you, Keigo.

( okay, good luck with that koma-moni, amami will make something edible in the back while they do that. anyway... )

That sounds good to me for the flashlight.

( it's a flashlight, which means it's not plugged into anything, which means the worst that can happen if it gets wet is it sputtering out and they only have one dry flashlight. they can live with that as long as the remaining light stays safe. with that decided, he'll look back to kamo-kun, all expectant but still patient. )

You ready?

( he's not against scooping them up to carry, but he'll give them a chance to be all independent (or cling to komaeda at the same time) if they want to do that instead. )

( sneaking out of the sleepover... to go over to the school building, giving the wisteria tree a glance as he passes and thinking about what nene said.

but he's really looking for a certain little ghost girl, peeking around the ground floor of the school. how could he not... after hearing from mr. shopkeeper about the terrible ghost who attacked komaeda... which i have been informed by nms was just komaeda trying to scare a kid and getting beat for it. )

...Little Owlet?

( kind of weird to try calling her without a séance but if he has supernatural sight he might as well . just . yeah. )

Edited (april who) 2021-09-13 02:58 (UTC)

[ Rokkun lying on the ground not supervising Komaeda as he tightrope walks the rooftop, nobody can save him here. ]

It isn't so different... Even when the nightmares change every time I wake up and fall back asleep, what happens is always the same.

[ Being lost somewhere— in a void, in the woods, in the snow— and following a guide— the lights, the cairns, the river— leaving destruction in your wake— extinguished lights, a cemetery of metal and stone, shattering figures— and then falling and falling and failing and failing.

A singular memory, redressed in many different ways. It was only that last one that differed... because the group barged into the house ready to get shit done even thought the memory was supposed to have ended there. There's something to be said about teamwork and helping others and being able to affect the world around them when they stopped reacting to the things around them and made the decision to veer mission plans off course. ]

[ Yes ]

Appearance matters not to me, when this is not my true form.

[ Most people can't see him anyways, and those that do should be asleep in bed late in the night. If mission 1 team had chosen Shinobu's hairclip or something of the sort, he would have been resigned to wear that clip for the rest of his days.

Being attached, in either sense of the word, was always his choosing.

He goes back to watering the plants. ]

( he only wobbles a few times, his arms raised up, allowing the wind to blow against them — he looks up like he wants to reach for the sun. )

Are they the same?

( he questions, not looking in rokkun's direction, and komaeda takes a large step to walk over him as he tightropes — body shakes here and there, but he's doing okay. the chance to fall off the edge, his life on a thin line, he's here with someone who could see his demise, remember it, tell others of his story, of his own failures. )

Do you wake up, Rokkun? After you collide with the earth... do you lay there and accept it?

( he takes a few steps forward, stopping at the edge. )

In your dreams... is there ever anyone to help you? I took your hand... and I let it go, I think the others motivated you, I thought a lot... about those people with you.

( all about moving forward, and not letting what happens around them affect them... to make changes by moving forward, not taking detours when the path is right before them? )

[ It goes without saying that most of these rules are broken on a daily basis, thoughtlessly, unintentionally, ignorantly. Imagine if Kazuki or something similar came to eat whoever broke the rules; the game would be so short.

But, as far as anybody can tell, there haven't been consequences for breaking these rules. ... ]

What are your thoughts on them?

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