adsum | npc contact.1

What if I don't see you as a counselor, so let's take that away, shall we?

( normal counselors don't do what he did, to be honest, and it's not like komaeda is living right now to find out what he truly is. he's only here for hope, and hope alone. )

You're more than that, "the counselor," if I can accept myself as a stepping stone, then you can do the same.

( a piece of the world that others walk over to further their path, something like that. )

Being a stepping stone is inherent in the nature of a counselor. A mirror, a light... I am meant to be used, for as much and how long as the other person wishes to use me.

[ He likes to think of himself like... a garden path. A series of stepping stones. ]

You have never spoken to another counselor, have you?

So what... does that make me a counselor too? I think such a title is too... professional for trash like me.

( a garden path is actually pretty, especially with the surroundings, and how each step leads a person into a beautiful location filled with all sorts of flowers, tended to beautifully. )

Hmmm... I'm used to being suspended for an unforeseeable amount of time, like when I bombed the last school I attended.

( so a counselor to him is just... not really a thing he needs, well, his parents never told him he needed to see one. ) You're not *just* a counselor... you knew the moment that girl sacrificed herself, and you've been biding your time for me to appear... that's not a trait they usually have.

No, being a counselor requires understanding.

[ Komaeda doesn't even try, so... no... That professional title will have to remain with the counselor. ]

Have you spoken to other counselors? Perhaps omniscience is a trait counselors do usually have, and you were unaware.

I understand them perfectly, I understand that they don't understand the extent of their hope, and that they need help.

( he doesn't understand feelings! and a few other things, but that's because he hasn't been given the chance to, so he goes his life making up what others need around him by his own rules. the sad part is that he can't help them all the time, he can only hold their hand for a moment... or he gets irritated with carrying through the entirety. )

Not that I remember. ( easy excuse, he has dementia anyway, but can he fiddle with the desk drawers, what's in there? )

If they did, you could have just said so, but you didn't... so that makes you special compared to them, what else makes you different?

[ That's not understanding at all... ]

Every person is uniquely different, Komaeda. So are you.

I'm not a person.

( no one are people, they're either hope, or they're stepping stones. )

...Pick out the differences among five students, I want to see what you see, open my eyes to it.

( there he goes to crouch on the floor looking for something. what? nothing, just to see what's under the desk you know... normal things. )

[ Oh I forgot to respond to the desk question, no Komaeda can't open it, it's like the door that won't open unless the counselor invites the person in or the chair that won't move until he moves his feet. Underneath the desk... is maybe a stray sunflower seed shell, a bent staple, blood stains around the bottom of one of the desk legs that wasn't scrubbed out properly... normal things. ]

Give me five students, tell me what you see first, and I'll indulge you as best I can without breaking confidentiality.

Alright, one by one... the first one we can speak on is...

( aw sad, not his control... i respect it. he'll flick the sunflower seeds, the staple, but he'll run his fingers across the blood curiously. )

Kawaii-san's a pretty interesting piece as a stepping stone... I see how those deaths led to the beginning of a minuscule hope inside her... I'm curious how it'll grow, and who has to tend to it for the time being.

( he's going to lay on the floor because no one is stopping him, but as long as the counselor can hear him, it's fine. he sighs, thinking: )

They're the best thing that could have happened.

[ The blood is blood, it looks like it's been there a while, soaked into the grains of the wood. ]

Is she not tending to her own hope?

[ What a high maintenance hope. At least cultivate it yourself ]

Do you think she can, tell me your thoughts on her... What do you see?

( can he pull out his switchblade and try to pull up the wood? sometimes people eat snacks, and other people try and damage property. )

You should know who she is, you know everyone.

( she'll pick her own weeds :/ she's a strong girl. )

[ He can pull out that switchblade but the counselor's going to reach down and confiscate this. Whose switchblade is this? Is this the one he picked up from Kouji's corpse? There are so many knives floating around it's hard to keep track of. ]

I know who she is. I was asked if I would be a grief counselor for her. She doesn't need me.

( STOPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP, omg i'm crying, first the gun, now his switchblade. he hasn't even hurt anyone with it... his only line of defense.

and it is the one he got from kouji's corpse, he kept it safe! )

...You must be bad with girls, there's a lot you could say about her.

( it doesn't take long for komaeda to get off the floor, almost like he's waiting for the switchblade back so he can return to what he was doing. )

As a stepping stone, you have to be able to do something for their hope... because if not, what good are you?

[ Oh that reminds me I need to do bonuses so Dito can have his spear back to stab people with

The switchblade goes inside his pants pocket. ]

No good, unless the other person seeks me out. A person must want to be helped, in order to gain anything from counseling. I am a stepping stone, not a magic carpet; I will not sweep people off their feet.

( YESSSSSSSSSS FINALLY SOME STABBING IS GETTING DONE!!

komaeda's not against sticking his hand in his pant's pocket... he needs that to stab himself again, you know it worked out last time for saihara! )

...Saihara-kun, Amami-kun, Sakasaki-kun, and Rokkun... I wanted to choose Kawaii-san too, but I guess she doesn't work for differences...

( also why do they need to seek him, why can't he just do like komaeda does? )

[ The counselor's hand slips inside his pants at the same time Komaeda's does, but the counselor is the one who finds the grip and flicks the blade open. Here, he's helping. ]

They are the people you think of first. How are they important to you?

( wow. hm... good with his hands, i see. he wins! his eyes are trained on the blade, slowly shifting left and right if the counselor moves it. he removes his hand from his pockets though, taking a few steps back as he patiently waits.

speaking of importance, he thinks about it... some are more important than others, but he doesn't know how to talk about feelings. rather... )

Their hope, it's all important to me... I want to see where it goes.

( also because they're the set of people that stood out. )

[ His knife now. As soon as Komaeda backs off, the counselor goes back to snacking on his crackers like he hadn't just been this close to stabbing a student in the hand. ]

I see. Do your best to help them, Komaeda. Amami faring better than the rest, who have quite the targets on their backs.

Is it because Amami-kun's an Ultimate? Saihara-kun is as well...

( he knows that rokkun can be... like that, as well as rika can be... like that... and natsume can also be... like that... but, maybe he means how out of the way that ultimate has been compared to others. )

What makes them different that he's faring better? I can understand that everyone would want to be in an Ultimate's grace, though...

He keeps his cards close. The others are impressionable. Look how much you've affected them already.

[ I originally mistyped infected and you know that's true too ]

( forget the switchblade, counselor has his entire attention. )

...In what ways have I affected them, what do you see?

( one keeps his cards close, the other impressionable. komaeda's watched the people around him, that's why he did what he had to do... but counselor is a third party, his eyes watched komaeda and everyone else. so what does he see?

you're right, komaeda a disease. )

[ ...he's interested. Even if he claims to not understand or know how to navigate relationships with people, he's invested anyways and that's what matters. ]

I see people who keep you in their thoughts. Your actions, your words, your hope... Even if somebody does not understand or agree, the thought is planted there: you act as a benchmark, a guide, no matter whether people gravitate towards or away. Some are stronger for it, some are weaker. You have no choice but to keep being you, and you will be made to linger long after you are gone.

( a long time ago, upon his death, he said he wanted to be their foundation's hope, he wanted to be praised, to have his words carried on for everything he did. erect a bronze statue, respect him, call him ultimate hope — to linger after, he would have to be that, but he has no hope inside of him, nothing noteworthy anyway. hope is a very serious issue with him, even as his heart skips a beat at the thought to think he's doing his job properly as a stepping stone, he taps his chin. )

I want to be used by specific people to encourage the hopes of others, even after all my work... some won't budge.

( he sighs, dejected at the thought, the things they could make him do, what he'd do... kill, die, it's endless. )

Whose hope have I assisted with the longest?

( considering how their schools years are stretched, and how komaeda met some of these people for the first time... but there's his dementia, so memories are a loss for him to go by. )

[ He wanted a bronze statue???? why am i losing my mind over this ]

Resistance is also part of keeping you in mind. Don't lose heart over that.

[ The harder they push back, the greater his effect. The ones he should watch out for are the ones that go "uh huh, okay" aka Minato, probably. ]

As for the longest... It would be the people who've known you the longest, or believe they do. Impact doesn't need to be all at once. Time has its effect as well.

( yes HE'S SO FUCKING STUPID?? i think it was bronze, i'm crying. he's a simple man who wanted simple things. i went to go rewatch the scene and teared up again, sighs. )

I won't... ( his brows knit together, he would NEVER give up on being used. ) it's why I keep working, because to help their hope... to see them prevail. I'd be disappointed if they couldn't do what's important...

( minato's hope is probably very shiny, komaeda will be working on that one with elizabeth's approval of course. )

Believe they do? ( siiiiiiighs, crossing his arms. ) Since it's about me, you can say who... who believes they've known me the longest.

( counselor should know??? he knows everything??? )

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