adsum | npc contact.1

[ Well that makes her look closely at him, squinting past his bangs at the eye hidden underneath, and then gets mad at herself for caring when he was just exaggerating. Even if what he's exaggerating is questionable in its own right. ]

And what good reason is there to do that to yourself?

( SHE CAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARES that's sweet, there's a ghost of a smile before he shrugs and brushes the bangs by his right eye, a subtle clue as to which one he can't see out of anymore. )

You could say I'm righting a wrong of MINE... Or that I'm hoping this will help me do SO. ( ... ) It's for Sato-chan. She doesn't know I'm going to this length THOUGH, so that's a secret between you and I, oKAY?

( Just like him not being able to see out of one eye is a secret between him, and shopkeepkun, and also Helena who's going to be helping him deal with the whole blindness issue. )

Edited 2021-09-06 03:40 (UTC)

[ Empathy is a normal human emotion, stop it

It's easier to shove it aside, though, as he keeps talking and the frown on Maya's face deepens. ]

Why share that secret with me?

[ Knowing that she's Nao's friend, regardless of her ability to keep secrets. ]

She won't be happy if she ever finds out you sacrificed your sight for her sake.

( Because he knows she won't tell Nao, because that'd make her upset, and the likelihood of Maya wanting to upset her friend she's just starting to make up with again is pretty low.

Which is true, but he doesn't want to say it. )

Because trust is gained through an exchange of seCRETS. ( Which is also true, but a little less sincere. Sorry, Nao... He can't put your tips to good use right now. ) And I trust YOU, Little Wolf.

[ She's quiet at that, a silent debate with herself over the belief that trust needs to be earned and not given freely, and the ...something... that Natsume does trust her despite how she is to him. She's a serious person. She's never lied to him. There are plenty of justifications.

What is this secret but a burden to her, though? What is she supposed to do with this knowledge... ]

Thanks. But I have no secrets to give you in return.

[ There are plenty of secrets. But none she's willing to share with him. ]

( No one ever said secrets were fair and light and good. Sometimes you're given them just to know you have someone's best interests in your hands and you can turn it against them if you're cruel enough. )

I'm beginning to think you don't have any at ALL. ( Said very light-heartedly—but he's going to give a look around and hold out his hand. ) I have a few MORE, if you're willing to come away with me to somewhere a little more priVATE... The roof, perHAPS?

[ She refuses to look at his hand, she's not going to take it. But it's the first time he's chosen the roof instead of the stairwells, so that must mean... ]

So I can shove you off?

[ That was one part of the promise, at least. ]

You rememBERED.

( Adding another surprise to this list so he can give it to Nao later on in his life. )

Aren't we supposed to have a lovely lunch date before that hapPENS? I don't have a picnic prepared toDAY, so the shoving will have to WAIT.

[ She was sort of hoping he wouldn't have, but she didn't count on it. Still ignoring the hand, and also Natsume's words that she doesn't know what to respond with anyways, she side steps him and starts walking. To the roof. ... ]

( natsume remembers everything, even if i don't and had to go doublecheck my email because i was surprised you remembered something.

He wasn't really expecting her to take it anyway, but he'll be quiet on the way up; not everything needs to be talked about in private, and really, the whole sight-losing thing should have been one of them, but he needed something to catch her attention. "I'm blind in one eye now" is just the quickest one.

...Natsume is slowing when they get to the fourth floor regardless of if they go by elevator or stairs though, reflecting on something—he's going to the roof access side because he isn't making either of them climb out a window so this is as good a time as any. )

Little Wolf, have you ever experienced anything strange while you were up HERE?

[ asdflkjh tfw my memory is so bad, people are surprised when I do remember things, all I remembered was Maya wanting to shove Natsume off the roof and then had to go find the thread to see what the other conditions were

Maya remembers everything, though, like when they'd walked up the stairs to the roof that first time, just before this door they're coming up to, and Natsume hadn't fallen out of pace with her back then. ]

That depends on your definition of strange. Past this is storage space, officially, but it's more akin to a cemetery. If you feel anything weird, you're just being caught in the atmosphere.

( Caught in the atmosphere, huh. It felt too real for that—it was too real for that. He tugs at the sleeve of his left arm idly, uncomfortable with fabric on his tally marks. )

And if you see anything WEIRD? ( He pauses in front of the door, hand resting on the knob. It probably just feels like a regular one now, but he remembers how warm it was. ) Like LIGHTS, guiding you through darkness as if they were the STARS.

[ The atmosphere they got pulled into just unfortunately turned out to be Rokkun's everything I'm sorry.

Maya lets Natsume open the door, taking the chance to glance over at him and then back in front of her. ]

I'd ignore them. I know where I'm going, and don't need a guide.

( it's okay personally speaking i love rokkun and will always jump at the chance to learn more about him. natsume is just mad because he almost drowned.

His expression is a little tense, but neutral when he opens the door and finds it's just as he's walked through it before with Subaru: in better repair and without all the gorintos broken and strewn about. That's unsettling in its own right, thinking about the heavy weight on his chest and the conversation they'd had among the desecration, but he'll keep his face forward. )

And where would you be goING? Is it always the ROOF, or do you find yourself elseWHERE, as if caught in someone else's memoRY?

[ Their footsteps echo slightly with how the walls have crumbled and there's nothing between them and the end of the hall, dust visibly floating in the sunbeams that pass through the windows. It's a space Maya normally wouldn't speak out loud in, throwing another glance Natsume's way before looking back at that window just before the turn to the stairwell. ]

...It's always the roof.

[ Doesn't matter where she finds herself, that doesn't change the fact that she's going to the roof. There's nothing in this hallways she would stop for. ]

There's no need to be so on edge, Sakasaki. It's a lot more peaceful now, than it was before.

I'm not—

( But he is, and he's plainly frustrated that she noticed; that it was apparent enough. And of course she wouldn't speak in it: she probably walks alone. There's no need to talk if you're going off on your own.

But they're together, and... well, he keeps his voice quiet at least; he has enough respect for that, short bites of conversation as unobtrusive to the dead as possible. )

As long as you take care not to touch the gorinTOS, I suppose that it IS.

[ There's a shrug of her shoulders, acknowledgement without saying anything out loud, but at least the hall doesn't stretch on forever and soon they're in a more familiar talking space that is the stairwell.

Maya walks up first. ]

You aren't meant to touch those in the first place. It's rude.

[ Like talking too loudly in a graveyard, this sort of thing is common sense. Unless you opened the door and got buried in an avalanche of them and had no other choice. ]

I wouldn't touch them if I had a CHOICE.

( Slightly offended she is implying he would... He isn't that rude... Stop it. He does breathe a little easier though, glanci... looking back over his shoulder at the fourth floor before he follows her up. )

I found myself covered in them at the end of BREAK. I hadn't realized someone'd put them all against the door to entrap anyone desiring to sneak onto the rooftop while school was CLOSED. ( Because they can't always be there, since Maya goes up this way? ) Do you like hiKING?

[ Sometimes other things, like curiosity or the drive to know, overpower manners. Look at Shuichi.

There's another glance his way at the booby trapped fourth floor door, but otherwise no surprise or concern; Natsume's alive, what of him she can see isn't all bruised and battered, so he's fine and it's fine. ]

If you're asking if I came here often, before the elevator was installed, the answer is no.

[ If he's talking about nature hikes then that's personal information with no relevance here ]

Do you think I'd invest in such pathetic pick-up LINES?

( ................... okay maybe he would but not the p )

I asked because after that avaLANCHE, I found myself entrenched in darkNESS. After following some stars and... ( he pauses; he doesn't want to admit to... but. ) extinguishing some unlucky LIGHTS, I found myself falLING, like I were Alice tumbling into a rabbit HOLE.

And I landed in the WOODS, and from there I had a merry little hike that involved a baby BEAR, a cemetary of meTAL, and a drop into a riVER. ( normal things. ) What do you think of THAT? ...I'm not a fan of hiking either, by the WAY.

[ She stares at him because maybe... before opening the door to the rooftop, eyes initially downcast to avoid the sudden glare of the sunlight. It's quiet up here. Empty. Grimy with years of built up dirt. And it's hot with the sun almost directly overhead and the only thing able to cast shade being the this thing that Rina taught me is called a bulkhead, but only a foot or so of it on one side.

It's that sliver of shade that Maya stands in, leaning back against the wall.

What does she think... Natsume hitting his head and dreaming all this up is a strong candidate. ]

Like I said before, it's the atmosphere. When I say "open your eyes" I don't mean the ones in your skull. Think on things, rather than taking everything literally, especially an experience like that. Interpret it as you would a dream.

( that forces him to either stand in the shade really close to her, or stand an appropriate distance from her in the sun--he chooses the latter. to see her expression better, even if it so rarely changes. )

If it's just the atmoSPHERE, Little Wolf, then why did these ( he hooks his fingers under his long sleeve on his left arm and pulls it up, fifteen tallies neatly lined on his wrist. ) go up in numBER?

( he'll keep it rolled up, tracing a nail under them, not waiting for her answer before he continues, voice even and firm. )

Two at the start of the YEAR, with no memory of how I got THEM. Four for-- ( ... ) for killing four of my fellow stuDENTS. One more for taking care of that flour child before break starTED. Eight for clapping lights--souls--to see the way BY.

( at least, he's pretty sure that's why he has those. he didn't hurt anything else, traumatizing a three year old aside.

...it's uncomfortable to have them out, but he rolls up his right sleeve too so he at least Matches and isn't an asymmetrical mess. he purses his lips, and continues a little gentler. )

I've been thinking plenty, to be hoNEST. I just like to talk when I'm more sure of my FACTS, and I haven't collected enough of those YET.

[ She schools her expression as best she can, but she still breathes out when Natsume admits to murdering— and four students, at that— gaze lingering on his wrist for a moment longer before looking back up to meet his eyes. ]

You asked to talk to me now, without all the facts. An odd choice, considering I don't have any relation to stars and bears.

[ Then, because he thinks she has answers? Maybe. But she's of the opinion it won't do him any good unless he comes to the conclusion himself. ]

( It doesn't make him smile when she has a reaction—not a happy one, anyway, more like an ah-ha type of one. It fades as quickly as it comes, his gaze holding hers steadily. )

I wanted to ask you if you had any strange experiences on the fourth FLOOR, and I wanted to talk about MINE.

( If she has answers, if she has any relations... neither of those really matter; they're nice to have, but they don't really matter. Sometimes he needs a soundboard who's closer to the same level as him who isn't fucking Nagito Komaeda. )

...At the end of that memory I was talking aBOUT, we met a young man and his younger sibLING. ( Ah. ) It wasn't just me there; I had three compaNIONS. That isn't that important though—what's important is that young MAN.

His name was Rokuro, and one of my companions recognized him clearly as Rokuro Arata—one of our senPAI. He died when he was in middle SCHOOL, in the COLD, not that far from his home where he had a younger sibling waiting for him or for someone ELSE. ( ... ) If he died back THEN, how is he here NOW?

( It doesn't really sound like a question to answer, or one that he thinks she can, but—one that's been in his thoughts lately. )

[ Please find more people to talk to than Komaeda and Maya. If only she knew... Actually, she's sort of wishing she knew less, because this isn't the give-and-take relationship she thought they were in agreement on. It's just him giving and her not knowing what to do with it all, besides organize this mess of thoughts and give it back. ]

Perhaps Arata can tell you better than I can.

[ The person he should have gone to, in Maya's opinion, but it's good that he didn't because Rokkun may just well break one of Natsume's limbs for "trespassing" as they'd done. ]

...Sakasaki, have you ever asked yourself why you're here now? Or where those first two marks of yours came from, that you don't remember?

[ Maybe, maybe not. But he should ask himself now if he hasn't before, and draw his conclusion from the context given. ]

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