npc contact.1

[adsum]

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[mermaidcursed]

We don't mean any harm, Okane-san, I swear-

( not that they could?? they're both kinda dinky. but other than not being able to see the ghost... this is actually right up nene's alley, unfortunately. she's able to adjust quickly and speak clearly, but... she's notably not giving up their names. )

We're transfer students.

[unsurely]

R-Right...!

[ Nene's answer snaps him out of his own state of half-panic and half just trying to even make heads or tails of this. What's even happening...? Nene seems able to stand on her own now though, so he lets her go... but he does add the answer she didn't. ]

I know something happened to you... but we weren't the ones who did it! Th-That's what we're trying to investigate, in the first place.

[adsum]

[ "We don't mean any harm" "We weren't the ones who did it" y'all are sus

The voice huffs, clearly not impressed, but the frustration at least seems spread amongst the three of them. ]

...damn it. Can't believe I'm out of the game so early... So, transfer students. You know who I am. What do you know of my death?

[mermaidcursed]

( ori please we're sus no matter what and we are doing our best!!!!

nene's hands ball into loose fists, curled up at her chest. what does she know? ... well, aside from the clusterfuck of a first meeting, she herself knows... little. but saihara... )

I know there was a fire in the library, and you went missing during it. You... you turned up several days later, and your arm was broken.

[unsurely]

Ah... n-no, the bone appeared to be broken post-mortem.

[ You know, sometimes you're talking to a ghost and part of your brain is screaming at you for even believing you are because that's ridiculous but also there's no other explanation!? But then a murder inaccuracy pops up and you have that instinct to correct it.

What do you mean that's just Shuichi. ]

But... it's true that there were other injuries, as well. You had bruises on your left arm that we couldn't explain... Do you remember how you got those?

[adsum]

[ There's a little huff about the fire, because that she knows very well, the time and place of her death. After all, Nene had made her reexperience it just a few moments ago, and a certain nosy detective had that memory on repeat more than a dozen times prior to that. ]

I do, and that's none of your business. I had those from before I was assaulted in the library.

[ Not only was she murdered, but somebody had to break her arm on top of that? jcf. Absolutely do not mention the clocktower thing. ]

Either way, I care less about the circumstances of my body, and more about the person who put it in that state. I want names.

nene like Ummmmm we're all crazy and overthink things

[mermaidcursed]

( PLEASE GOD DO NOT MENTION THE CLOCKTOWER THING

honestly though there's not much nene can say here, because despite everything, there was so much information going around... but also so much second-guessing and covering up and she just. doesn't trust the information she has. so instead, she turns to look at saihara. ... sorry, saihara-san... )

:)

[unsurely]

...

[ He pauses visibly, but it's just from the fact that Nene's made it so clear she wants him to answer, right? It's a complicated matter, so... it can't be helped if he hesitates to get his thoughts together. Not to mention they're dealing with a ghost who could get mad at them for the wrong answer.

He just decides to own it though. ]

I'm sorry. We don't know who did it yet.

[adsum]

[ The two of them hear what they've always imagined a frown to sound like. A sense of disappointment, frustration, anxiety...

The ghost is quiet, but Nene will be able to see the light surrounding the gorinto flicker, like a phone line breaking up, and may suspect that this interaction may be time limited and if there's anything they want to learn from Aiko they'd better make the most of the time they've got. ]

[mermaidcursed]

( oh no. ohhh no-

quietly, she tugs at saihara's sleeve a bit- if only because she's still wary about saying their names. )

We might not have much time.

... Um. Okane-san? What did you mean by the game?

[unsurely]

[ They don't have much time...? Shuichi follows Nene's gaze, but he can't see anything himself -- he'll just have to trust her. ]

I-If you're out of it... then where are you right now? What's going to happen to you?

[ There was actually one more thing that he wanted to say to her, but... that has to take a backseat for now. ]

[adsum]

-—figure of speech.

[ though the pause and abrupt start suggests otherwise. it's a killing game! nobody is surprised ]

And I'm not anywhere. You're in... my head. Like my own thoughts, like I'm talking to myself.

[ But she doesn't know where she is. She must not be anywhere— she can still feel her skull splintering and giving in, and there's no way she can be anywhere after that. What's going to happen to her...? She doesn't know. There's no way she can say anything with any certainty.

She's going to disappear. She's going to lose consciousness and then all there will be is oblivion, endless and timeless and she's— scared, oh god, she's scared. ]

I don't want to die... I don't— please! [ Desperation cuts into her voice, thin and frantic, the light around the gorinto flickering. ] I don't want to go! I can't! I'm not—

[ not ready ]

[mermaidcursed]

( the sudden desperation, the frantic fear and desire to live burns her heart, honestly. every day that gets closer seems terrifying even with hanako there with what she knows about herself- to have it suddenly catch you like that... )

Okane-san, it's- I know we were too late to save you. And I'm sorry. But is there anything we can do for you now?

[unsurely]

[ He's seen it before. People who weren't done fighting... who wanted to live. Everyone is like that at the end, it seems -- it's difficult to let go of that last trace of hope, of the illusion that the situation might turn around. But in the end... they all accepted it, too. And in a way, Shuichi knows that's what Aiko's ghost must be struggling to do right now, no matter what form it takes. But in that state... he feels like he knows what she'll ask. ]

...You wanted us to find your killer, right? I understand that -- I don't want to give up on it either.

[ He's honest about that -- but there's something he's been meaning to say about this matter all along. ]

But is that really the kind of last thought you want? There are other people you'd rather think about, aren't there? People who'd also give anything if it meant they could see you again.

[ Why did she focus on her murderer first, and not on those? What kind of game... even skews someone's priorities like that? There might be a tinge of anger in his voice, but it isn't really aimed at Aiko. Maybe it's for his own powerlessness -- maybe he's even projecting his own issues onto her. But still-- ]

Don't you... have anything to say to them?

[adsum]

[ Is that what she wants? Vengeance is something so strong and personal it's the closest thing to grounding that she has, when everything surrounding her death and her life and the abruptness of the end had been thrown into turmoil. It's the only thing she has to cling to— to find her killer and then... then what? Make them pay? A whole lot of good that would do, when she won't be around to know. Besides, it's not like there was anybody else... Friends... classmates... In the end, she didn't have that sort of close relationship, but when it was somebody in this school who betrayed her. When, in the end, it was two strangers who were the ones to reach out to her.

What does she want them to do? What does she want to say? What can she say, when there is nobody to convey her final wishes besides the two around her? ]

...Put an end to all of this. Don't let anybody be alone. And... [ the light dims, the voice quiets, ] If you can... take me far away from this place. My body, my memory... whatever is left. I want to leave this school.

[mermaidcursed]

( her memory... that really is all they can take, isn't it? but with how much heart nene has in her little body, it's more than doable. it still doesn't feel like enough. clutched fists brought against her chest mark her anxiety and guilt alike- regrets, even. )

We will. I promise.

( and if she tries to see if there's anything of hers left later, that's her business, nene thinks. how much time do they have left? she's growing fainter- dang it. )

While you can- is there anything you know about this situation? There's so much we don't know.

[unsurely]

[ He's gotten a little used to saying things like these, hasn't he? It's a realization that feels a little heavy to make. ]

...We promise. We might not know how to do it yet... but we won't give up. No matter what. And... we won't forget you.

[ This comes kind of in unison to the first half of Nene's, echoing her while they're both for the most part... still moved and intermittently silent with emotion. He can feel his voice trembling a little -- and he doesn't say anything to the other half, falling silent in full.

Something tells him... Aiko might not be there to respond anymore. She's said what she wanted to, after all. ]

[adsum]

[ I was going to reply to Nene's question, but Rina you're right, that would ruin the mood, so instead the light goes out, the stone damp except for a little circle on the very top where the coin had been placed. ]

[mermaidcursed]

( ori that is so incredibly valid and i would die for you.

ah- they were out of time then. she should have... no. thinking like that would only hurt her more. after a moment of silence, nene wipes her eyes with her wrist before giving shuichi a very sudden hug. )

[unsurely]

...!?

[ It takes him by surprise. Shuichi would have stood there in silence with that dull sense of hollowness in his stomach, for probably a longer time if left by himself. It's never so easy to come to terms with the loss of a human life, after all. No matter who it is -- no matter how you knew them, or didn't.

With a quiet shuffle of uniform fabric, he wraps his own arms around Nene before he knows it. They don't need words for what she feels... he thinks he knows. ]

...Are you alright? If you need to cry... I don't mind.

[mermaidcursed]

Mm. You sounded hurt, too. So it's for both of us.

( few things can withstand the emotional honesty of one nene yashiro, and this is not one of them. instead, she stays like that for a bit, the two of them left only in the wake of aiko okane's final words, a moment between the two of them alone. and she heard his tremble, saw his shock over everything. )

[unsurely]

Ah, well... you aren't wrong. I've never been that strong of a person, to begin with.

[ The only thing he has... is he's gotten used to this. To these things he thinks no one should have to get used to, like saying goodbye to people and hearing out what they had to say in their final moments. But he doesn't want to tell Nene that. ]

I think you're stronger than me, Yashiro-san.

[unsurely]

[ So... after he finishes talking to Nene, probably after they part ways too so he doesn't put her through anything else today, Shuichi comes back by himself and carefully touches the gorinto stones one more time.

Just to see if... the vision of Aiko's last moments is still there, or if it's gone with her. Which one is it? ]

[adsum]

[ nothing happens, they're just rock now, and unless he chooses to take them, the student council will retrieve the stones like they did after spring break ]

[unsurely]

[ He doesn't take them... if there's nothing left of her, then there's no point to it, right? And he already has the armband as a memento, so he doesn't need something else for just that either. Watch there be regrets about this later. ]