adsum | npc contact.1

[ NPC #66666 looks mildly distressed that Komaeda is speaking with him but settles down a little when Komaeda says something not weird. Yeah, somebody's heart can really be that dedicated, he says, but he thinks for Chiaki it's a little different, because artists always have an eye for people and little things grab their attention. Izumi is, bluntly put, objectively beautiful. So sometimes you content yourself in watching and never getting involved, and it was never something Chiaki had wanted to let slip and brought attention to. Watching is nice sometimes. Somebody watching you while you watch them? oof.

Still... she gets to talk to Izumi... not that they've never talked before with all her asking him to the art club, and not that he's really seeing her anyways, even now, asking about senpai first and foremost.

It's a start, she tells herself. Things all got to start somewhere.

So she leaves her stool and goes to one of the cupboards to find where Aiko's paintings have been set aside, collecting them and bringing them back for Izumi one by one: a painting of the black cat snoozing in a sunbeam with the tips of its fur lit up like fire in the direct sunlight, a painting of the clock tower at dawn with its clock face a perfect mirror of the sky in soft pastel pinks and purples, an in-progress painting of the wisteria tree in the dark blues of night with its branches sagging heavily as if in the middle of a rainfall. ]

...I get it. Even if we didn't talk that much, whenever somebody moves away or- or just doesn't come to school anymore, they leave so much emptiness and regret behind.

( how many strokes of bad luck will they meet in this room, well, he guesses that something positive will happen in the end concerning them or chiaki. either way, it's worth the way, so he'll focus on npc #66666 for now and the information given to him. it's not a foreign concept to love someone, but the beauty of a person... can that be more than enough to encompass someone's entire heart? that's none of his business though, and komaeda's not going to start digging into the business of her and izumi's lovelife, instead.

komaeda smiles softly, his eyes bright as he keeps his sights on npc #66666 as if he's really changes his way after a subtle explanation. his lack of empathy makes his understanding of them difficult, and that's because only komaeda knows what he's interested in. )

Did you attend the same middle school with Kudo-san?

( his words are thoughtful, and he thinks from her perspective for the most part. he isn't sure how much he'll be able to learn in regards to izumi like this, but it doesn't hurt to try. his curiosity goes back and forth between the two as he glances over to them, watching as chiaki carries a couple of painting over to the idol for him to see. that's a romance alright, but komaeda won't third wheel them yet... not when he has npc 66666-kun... don't want to make him sad. )

If so... Did something happen to Sena-kun, she seemed pretty hurt that he didn't remember! What if he was involved in a pretty bad accident... haha, that sounds really lucky, actually.

( oh, that must sound bad. so let him shake his head. ) Because he forgot, he was able to meet her again when she needed him most.

[ it's too bad the pda's don't have a camera function, because izumi would've snapped a couple of those photos for future reference. reference for what, he's not sure -- but he'll take any clue he can get while he's still in chiaki-chan's good graces. he hates to admit it, but komaeda's better at these investigation thingies more than he does... but maybe it's because he's gone through something like this before?

ugh, why does he care anyway. so long as they can get more information about aiko's death... it's too bad, though. the art doesn't look half bad. chiaki truly has competition in the art department, so that could be enough motive for murder.......... ]

Yeah, exactly. At least she left these as a remembrance for all of us. [ he'll take his position then. me googling some random pose so he's gonna sit like this now ] Are you two friends? Did you guys talk about things while she's painting? Like what we're doing right right now.

[ he's not the type to talk while posing, but for now he'll make an exemption. ]

[ NPC 66666 gives Komaeda a strange look. Didn't all of them attend the same middle school? Or is he also so unforgettable that Komaeda doesn't remember his name... At least Komaeda has an excuse, but his dementia had better not be some infectious prion disease Izumi's caught too. ]

Some gift... they were supposed to be auctioned, and now they're no good for anybody- nobody's going to own them, and they're not going to help charity either. We didn't really talk that much anyways, and our art styles are pretty different too... Here, I'll show you!

[ She leaves Aiko's paintings in his care and leaves to a different storage closet with the surety of somebody who knows exactly what she's looking for, and plops this masterpiece in front of Izumi and stands beside it proudly. ]

This one's mine!

[ THE BEST. SHE'S THE BEST. GUESS WHO THIS IS A PAINTING OF. ]

( komaeda smiles softly at npc 66666 as he tries to reassure him, it's not that komaeda forgot him... or maybe it is, he does have an illness that prevents komaeda from actually retaining his memories. of course, he closes his eyes and slowly begins to think back, but there's only so much (rather, so little) that he knows... he's concerned about what the other is trying to say, and his eyes slowly flutter open as he laughs it off. )

Roku~n, I wouldn't forget you... ( made it up on the fly.. he doesn't even know if that's his name, but listen npc 66666, komaeda's doing his best. ) Rather... I've forgotten a lot to do with me... won't you tell me something that we did together back then? ( because his dementia is a bitch, and that should be the very reason why he should be given sympathy, and maybe some backstory from his dear roku~n.

let komaeda check on izumi and chiaki by looking over to them since he heard chiaki get up quite gleefully and run to one side of the room to get something and come back. he's squinting and then soon after, he has the O_O, but it softens, purely elated as he claps from where he is at the masterpiece. of course, he's looking at npc 66666 to see if they'll give a round of applause as well....

is that...

what everyone thinks it is... )

[ oh

oh

is this what he thinks it is? it's as if his mind is short-circuiting at this rather... expressionist piece-- no, wait. he has to make sure first... ]

Kudo.

[ he addresses his not-so-secret admirer with an all-too bright smile, voice raised an octave higher. ]

Who is this?

[ if there's anything his kouhai, especially tsukasa, know about him, it's that his smiles outside the camera is usually a bad sign. this is one of those times, depending on chiaki's response.

well? who will it be? ]

[ No round of applause. Roku~n was about to tell a heartwarming tale of his and Komaeda's childhood escapades, when he too sees Chiaki set the canvas down on the ground and the words die from his lips. He doesn't look surprised to see it- he's had to see it for days and days as Chiaki worked on it- but he does look wildly conflicted, like he can't decide whether he should intervene or not.

It's too late.

Chiaki beams at Izumi. ]

It's you, silly.

( not their childhood escapadesssss, which, they'll have to come back to when chiaki is showing off her hardwork. in all honesty, komaeda's actually enjoying himself when chiaki admits who the portrait is supposed to be. like this, he crosses his arms over his stomach and leans against roku~n, bumping shoulders with him as his eyes clothes in his attempt to stifle his laughter. there's tears in his eyes, as he chuckles softly, but going against izumi's sanity is one thing he just has to do — )

Wow! Amazing...! ( as i'm on call with enh right now, crying about this tag, he wanted me to say that edgar loves chiaki's paintings and praises her for them. this piece especially considering it capture's izumi's nature well. (because he's ugly inside is the meaning behind it, but chiaki doesn't need to know that). edgar valden is a supporter of anything that chiaki does, so he better not make her cry — ) It looks just like him! I love it!

( komaeda is sickly you know, so he takes a deep breath afterwards as he stays leaned up against his childhood friend... apparently. the leash also manages to slide into the male's lap from how komaeda is positioned, so don't worry about that. it's better off there than being in izumi's grasp considering how the idol seems to be "handling" the painting. he raises up his organic hand, and he's already wiping away the tears from his eyes. oh, it's been awhile since komaeda has been given this gift of humor. )

Don't you think it's great, Sena-kun!?

[ OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH MY GODDDDDDD DOES SHE KNOW HE'S FUCKING STRAPPED TO THE NINES HE CAN BLOW THAT PAINTING OUT OF THE WATER AND POINT IT AT KOMAEDA IF HE HAS TO

AND HELLO??? HE DOES NOT NEED MISTER EDGAR VALDEN'S COMMENTARY OR ANY SHIT FROM THE PEANUT GALLERY OVER THERE!! WHO ASKED THEM?! DO THEY ALL THINK THIS IS JUST A JOKE? DO THEY NOT GET THAT BEING BEAUTIFUL TAKES A LOT OF HARD WORK??? WHAT DID THIS GIRL EVEN SEE IN IZUMI ANYWAY?! WHO DOES SHE THINK SHE IS?!

SOOOOOOOOOO ANNOYIIIIIIIIIIIING ]

[ those thoughts flood izumi's mind like a neverending downpour, face unreadable as his ears barely register the snickering coming from that stupid mutt. it'd be soooo easy to take that portrait of hers and break it over his goddamn knee before stomping away and effectively failing this mission. god. fuck!!!

instead, he smiles again. ]

You know what I think? I think it straight-up sucks. [ ouch. ] If you want to go all expressionist or whatever since that shit's out of my league, not gonna lie -- you're gonna need to do better in choosing color schemes. Like, why yellow? You do know blue's my favorite color, right?

[ he sighs, clutching his head for a bit. he could actually get a headache from all this. ]

Do it over now that you've got a closer look of me. And you better not fuck it up this time. I don't have all day.

[ at leaaaast he didn't lambast her over the art style? all those years of looking after leo's songs has given him some sort of tolerance over weirder expressions of art, but that doesn't mean chiaki-chan should go about it all wrong. ]

[ EDGAR IS HER BEST FRIEND AND IZUMI HAS SHIT TASTE

Chiaki blinks in surprise when he fails to praise her, because hello?? She slides the portrait closer to him, in case he needs a better look at it. ]

Open your eyes, Sena! Yellow is the color of happiness!

[ There's plenty of blue, and there's basically a rainbow on this canvas because maybe in her heart of hearts she knew. ]

If expressionism is out of your league, you're just talk out of your ass and you have no grounds for critique.

Even the eyes are perfectly matched... observant. ( big as FUCK boi. ) Even the mouth looks like you from the side...

( komaeda loves it, actually, not because it's making izumi go mad with anger, but the fact that... okay, maybe that is the reason. when he does finish laughing, his eyes stare over at the idol as he smoothly cuts to the chase on his feelings, and wow... that was done exceptionally well. there's a bite to his words, that onslaught of anger hidden carefully as he speaks while using a few vulgar terms to get his feelings through. ah, this is also hope! he didn't break as bad as komaeda thought, but he didn't let something like that break him completely — he guesses...

if it wasn't for chiaki's response, komaeda would have said his signature line — bullying a girl? not cool, sena-kun. — luckily for them, she's able to handle herself. at this point, he doesn't see why roku~n was so worried about her to begin with. though, there's something about her paining that stands out to him too.. )

Roku~n...

( he points to her painting, looking back at him slightly curious. what has his attention is... is that red in her painting? roku~n... what's that... better have an answer because komaeda remembers coming in with saihara and there wasn't any of that here. does he have to put a hand... on his friend's leg.... to be cute or something.... please. )

But you're still painting with me in mind, right? Of course I should put down my two cents about it. It's up to you whether you want to take them or not.

[ yeah, it's gonna take more than some smitten girl's bizarre art style to break him. this is nothing compared to the songs leo made for him at his own expense. try putting up with hits such as the "I Hope Mold Grows All Over Meanie Sena’s Body And He Dies An Agonizing And Painful Death" song, among other things!! so annoying!

although - now that he mentioned it and got a closer look on the painting... there is something weirder in the works here and it's not just the bulging eyes and the garish color scheme. ]

Also... Why are there touches of red here? Are you trying to tell me something?

[ recalling that the color red isn't available in the art room from the start... gulp. ]

[ Roku~n is so uncomfortable, why are you doing this to him. He sort of shifts nervously because the overall atmosphere of this room is terrifying, actually, and just nods when Komaeda points wordlessly at the painting because yes. She really is serious. ]

Red is the color of passion. This is basic color theory, Sena, come on!

[ Sometimes your painting is incomplete without red and so you do what you can to get it. Passion (: ]

Art is an expression of feeling— the good artist pours their soul into their work and invokes an intimate response from their viewers at a glance. Aiko drew things that she sees: a cute cat, a pretty tree, so what? If you want a pretty picture of yourself, take a picture or look in a mirror.

[ izumi can also fear the atmosphere of this room dip into something more ominous, but never mind about that. ]

You don't have to tell me that twice, I do that shit everyday.

[ it's part of his job description. ]

Let me cut to the chase, then. Where did you get the red paint? This art room has been missing some since we came here.

[ he can be as forceful as he wants, but in the end he might need a little more persuasion in a situation like this - especially when his blood is starting to grow cold. komaeda help - ]

[ Chiaki throws a quick glance at Roku~n before looking back at Izumi. ]

...It's a secret. It's my secret stash, so I'm not telling or sharing.

[ It's fine. Don't worry about it. Sometimes art supplies are precious and you don't want to share in a room full of eavesdropping rivals. ]

( it's the glance for him, noticing the way chiaki looks at roku~n and then back to izumi — they both know something since she didn't look at anyone else in the room. though they're not the only ones considering komaeda can tell by izumi's tone and voice — don't worry, komaeda has an idea. )

Rokku~n...

( look at that, the double k to make it cuter and he's trying his best to get the boy's attention since they go way back. here, komaeda moves his chair to sit in front of the student, and he smiles softly while looking him over — he's not a talented student at all, too typical, too ordinary for komaeda to find some sense of comfort over. roku~n hasn't done anything bad to prompt komaeda's more negative behavior, so he handles this like the first fifteen minutes of sdr2. )

Hmmhmm... I'm curious about it...

( and knowing that two specific colors can be mixed, chiaki does seem like the type who would come out and say that — because girl was BOLD talking to izumi's ass. his voice is low as he speaks, watching the other to see if he makes... any odd movements or expressions. ) The red paint... because it's so hard to obtain, hey, can we look at it together?! ( he's holding out his mechanical hand towards the other for him to take, and with the way komaeda acts... he sounds pretty excited to see!!

show him, show him! )

[ ugh, that guy is being weird again... but at least komaeda has caught on. well, izumi did ask for backup so that they can continue standing their ground.

he crosses his arms and legs, narrowing his eyes at chiaki. ]

Can you really keep something like that a secret, though? Red is the color of passion, like you said. But you know what else it means?

Aggression. Anger. Danger. Violence. Now I'm wondering how far you'll go just to put a certain splash of color in your artwork. But would that really make you the best artist around?

Edited (WAIT HOLD ON) 2021-04-24 07:04 (UTC)

[ Me like I could make this two separate threads and respond as both Roku~n and Chiaki but no... he'll just have to be my next official npc I guess, sitting here in front of Komaeda and getting incredibly flustered at the invitation to hold hands, but he does take it, and threads his fingers with Komaeda's without any sign of discomfort over it not being a real flesh and bone hand.

Chiaki is saying something cagey about how artists go through great lengths for their art, and that they're often misunderstood, and that unconventional material is an artist's signature and speaks of their passion and-

but Roku~n interrupts her by standing and tugging Komaeda to his feet. ]

Hey, Chiaki... Izumi. Can we talk about this outside instead? I'll treat you guys to juice or something.

[ If any talking's going to happen, it's not going to be in a club room full of people. Also Komaeda makes him antsy and he desperately needs to get up and walk. ]

( WAIT HE'S CUTE AS HELL....... izumi don't fuck this up this is our romance routes to get information i s2g. who knew npc 66666 would get this much love out of the community to become real.... this is what hope is able to bring! that said, komaeda's actually surprised from how simple roku~n is that he would take his hand so easily without contemplating the consequences. for being ansty, he's rather bold, huh?

he does take advantage of the gesture by getting to his feet and following after as they come to intrude the two lovebirds, and komaeda remains silent just this once. his eyes glance towards izumi to confirm that maybe they should see what's up — "let's try it," besides, what's the worst that could happen. despite the idol's raging temper that's ever building from the art's disgrace, komaeda instead takes a more cooler approach and that's just going along with what happens. )

That's nice of you, has Roku~n always been this kind? ( he teases, but better not reject his offer because that would be rude of two students who aren't part of the art club. ) Then it's decided, a small double date in exchange for Sena-kun from acting reckless. Good idea! ( listen izumi... just take this L so it can be a W. )

[ holy shit rokk~n real. izumi blinks, as if he's been snapped out of his little bout with chiaki, and sighs before sliding off his stool. he almost forgot that komaeda's been entertaining this guy in his own weird way, and boy, is izumi not jealous at all. ]

You be quiet. [ he hisses at his investigative partner. ] I'd rather hear out what they have to say than you.

[ he's not about to admit to komaeda, but he's dimly aware that he went a little too far. probably hasn't realized that his popularity power from his world wouldn't be that effective here, although he would've had an easier time getting answers from the poor girl if he had been more gentle...

well, whatever. lesson learned. he wordlessly shuffles off after the two students and pet, towards wherever they need to talk about this freely. must be a well-guarded secret if they don't wanna discuss it in front of the art club members. ]

[ Can't believe hope makes npcs real. He sighs a little, and with his free hand takes Chiaki by the wrist to drag her out of the room because she won't leave otherwise, the girl spluttering a little as he does this and saying she can walk by herself. aka she pulls her hand free and matches pace with Izumi so they can walk shoulder to shoulder uwu

Neither of them bother to say anything more as they head downstairs to the vending machines, Roku~n staring down at his feet as he walks while Chiaki looks straight forward but trails her pinky on the handrail all the way down. They're past the second floor landing by the time Roku~n slows his pace and speaks up again. ]

You two... Promise me you won't say anything to anybody else, alright? Please?

[ He holds his pinky out to Izumi, at which Chiaki makes a little noise of disapproval, because "Rokkuuuuuuun, don't be silly! Sena's word is binding enough!" Komaeda might as well be air to her, but Roku~n will offer him his pinky next. ]

( not chiaki walking side by side with with izumi, oh lord, despite their differences they almost look like they get along — well, that's what komaeda thinks. it's why he's doesn't mind the way chiaki ignores him because this just seems like everyday life for someone as unfortunate as the ultimate lucky student. it's amazing though, they were supposed to find out about aiko specifically, but it seems their investigation has thrown them into an entirely different ballpark. even though they've already failed as to why they came here to begin with, he guesses whatever this is might be worth it. )

...

( the pinky promise may be pushing it just a bit, and he looks towards izumi checking with him before locking his eyes with roku~n. )

If we go so far back, is it really necessary? Isn't my word binding enough?

( yes, he's going to steal chiaki's little excuse for izumi to use for himself, thank you queen. )

[ bitch

he's a little leery about the pinky promise, eyeing rokku~n's hand for a moment, and he sighs. ]

That red paint must be some sort of precious resource here, huh. [ deadpan. but he relents and links his own pinky with the other boy. god im so glad i didn't make figaro do this because he couldn't make promises without serious consequences-- ]

Fine, you'll have my word on it. Wouldn't want to let Kudo down too much.

[ he's not THAT cruel. maybe. but honestly izumi just wants to get this over with already. ]

Edited 2021-04-25 09:40 (UTC)

[ "Nnnnnno?" That's Roku~n to Komaeda. They may be childhood friends, but that doesn't stop Komaeda from being generally untrustworthy and a bit off-kilter, on a good day. That said, he takes Izumi's hand and links his pinky just long enough to give Izumi's a light squeeze before letting go and turning to Komaeda. Hmm. He lifts their linked hands and gives them a shake; a handshake is a good enough promise, and he's not altogether picky about how something is promised as long as some acknowledgement is there.

If Komaeda won't promise, there's always Chiaki who pats Roku~n on the back and says, in that sort of way where you think somebody is probably joking, maybe, but you're not entirely sure: ]

Don't worry! If he spills the beans, I'll just shank him, problem solved!

[ Bright, cheerful, preening just a little because did everybody hear that?! Sena said he's promising for her sake! uwu

............on second thought, Roku~n doesn't want to be trapped in a stairwell with any of these people, so he keeps walking, decidedly looking at his feet instead of any of them until he's at the bottom of the stairs and his gaze flickers over Izumi's face. "So, um... What is your opinion on, uh... You know those guys who hang out in 3-B sometimes with the black cloaks?" ]

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