adsum | npc contact.1

That's... ah, his way of saying he did certain things for the results he wanted...

[ He originally came here to make sure Komaeda actually followed through with what he made him promise, but now it seems like doubly a good idea because he also needs to translate from hope-speak to actual human language. ]

It's just... a little important that Komaeda-kun should tell you so himself. So... please bear with him.

[ It's important to Saihara, at least. This is really going to test how perceptive Miss VP and her staff are, huh... ]

[ Sometimes you're a vice principal and somebody tells you your students are an embarrassment and your face just falls because you have some personal responsibility towards them, even if they go on to say that their bonds have strengthened since the start of the school year. The natural progression should be for strengthening bonds, is what she thinks, especially as students get to know each other and form clubs and help each other through projects and exams, but...

What she does is sit back, hands clasped on her lap, and gives Komaeda her full attention. ]

Of course. Please, explain at your own pace.

( he's the center of attention, and saihara will translate for him, it's... pretty different having someone explain the meaning behind his words, and does the other know him well enough to do that? to understand komaeda's thoughts and words, if he could be understood, would he not be in this position that he's in now? he hums in thought, looking at miss vp before his eyes stray to a nearby window, and then he closes his eyes to picture what happened first. )

Would you agree that the students weren't applying themselves then, that they were... a mess, so utilizing others for a better outcome of uniting them had to be done?

( he has to talk at his own pace? horrible, he likes to hear himself talk. )

Those who gave their lives so others could grow from their deaths, using it to obtain a hope much stronger than what they had then or even had at all... Who was the turning point towards the student's movement... I wonder...

[ He... wouldn't claim to understand Komaeda fully, no. Saihara doesn't think anyone ever will, and even if someone would... there are probably greater minds out there who could achieve it far better than an apprentice detective like him. But he does get enough to at least steer things in a reasonable direction that other people can follow too, thank you. ]

...

[ And on that note, also enough to understand that this part doesn't need steering. If the vice principal (or any other staff member present in the room) is paying attention at all... enough key words have been said to make the topic pretty clear -- phrasing like "gave their lives" and "grow from their deaths" should speak well enough on its own.

He only stiffens in his seat, watching more rather the VP for reactions than Komaeda, but he says nothing. ]

[ There is no surprise on her face— she grimaces, yes, eyebrows knitting together when Komaeda's words and implications sink in, but she does not seem horrified in the way one would when listening to a delusional man glorify murder. It's sadness, it's quiet acceptance, it's patience as she lets Komaeda talk while keeping her full attention on him. ]

...So you took the initiative. Why tell me now?

Took the initiative? I did no such thing, it was her death that was the start... She was the beginning piece, whereas scum like me... is nothing.

( which is true, he doesn't think of himself as the important piece. rather, he's only here to enable a few things because everyone else is afraid of doing so. he his hands rest in his lap, smiling gently as he watches her, and he thinks about why is he telling anything right now. he's here because... he turns his head to look at saihara, analyzing him like he's trying to figure out what the perfect response would be.

he could say a lot of things, but he decides not to, and instead he places his focus on the vice principal. )

You counted on a bunch of mere students to figure it out... to reward them with a set amount of points, even the culprit rewarded.

( he says this like a fact, but let's be real, he would know considering he's the one who played a hand in this. )

There was no hope in that at all... instead, it was in that young girl's sacrifice that allowed them to achieve greater heights.

[ The culprit was rewarded...? What does that mean? Well, Saihara has enough of a brain cell to speculate at least, even on short notice like this, but that's news to him. Not that he can ask Komaeda for more details while in the Vice Principal's office, but... he'll let the surprise show on his face, if only for a minute.

After all, the less it looks like he knows, the better in this situation. It's supposed to be Komaeda confessing and not Saihara turning him in. ]

...Whether there was any hope in it or not... he's right. I don't know if that was by your initiative or not, but the school did offer 300 merit points for discovering that specific culprit. Why... is that? Did something make that murder special?

[ There were other killings, and it never happened for those. ]

[ It's initiative because the president didn't just fall dead on her own accord?? Or if she did, there's no reason for Komaeda and Shuichi to be here bringing up that death again. ]

...Hers was the first, and she was the president.

[ From the very start, she stood out, and was special. Even so, there was no apparent effort from the school side to investigate anything, no policemen, no student interviews, just a reward for the culprit, awarded long before anybody admitted to their crimes. ]

( first come, first serve, but there are other people wo have died within this school since then. they didn't have a big name as she did apparently, nothing to make them stand out among the boring, generic people within this school. to be honest, at the time, komaeda didn't care who came into the library, all he wanted to do what promote hope by bringing everyone together, and then it'd be up to them to figure it out.

are they lucky that it was her? if it was anyone else who didn't matter, would the school have just turned a blind eye? )

...So if another murder was planned, and the victim had an important role, the school wouldn't ignore them like they did everyone else?

[ No... even if they didn't exactly ignore her...

He's thinking about those other things, precisely. If a murder like that had happened in a regular school, police would have come; they'd have interviewed everyone one by one, and there would have been officers on the premises for the next indefinite while. But the staff had known she was killed from the start... even with Abel hiding the body. He remembers coming to this same office with Ouma-kun to figure out exactly that.

What are they missing...? It can't hurt to play along with Komaeda for now, although Saihara's hands tense in his lap, digging into uniform fabric as he forces his voice not to crack. It comes out quiet... almost too calm instead. ]

If... after stepping out of this office, I were to kill Arisu-san... would you offer 300 points as reward for whoever revealed I did it, too?

...Even hypothetically, you shouldn't be telling me...

[ It's an uncomfortable position she's put in, and that's probably the point. Never mind being the vice principal—

She turns to Komaeda, takes a moment, and then looks at Shuichi again, leaning in slightly. ]

I would be in no position to stop you, Saihara-kun. Do you understand? I cannot interfere.

[ Not to prevent, not to enable, even if her eyes are pleading. Would she offer 300 points? Do it and find out (: ]

( there's a shiver down his spine as he hears saihara speak, for the ultimate detective to mention murdering another person without hesitation. it sounds almost too natural, but he doesn't turn his heard to look at him, instead, he keeps his eyes face forward as he feels that subtle itch in his chest. it's risky, something he didn't expect out of him, and he wonders does that stem from his profession — is that why it's so easy for him? is that how far his hope will go? )

Why? When he murders... the information is given to you once someone finds out, right?

( he does pretty well in keeping his voice natural despite being so interested in saihara's way of talking about life or death. the room feels a little hot, but he appears unbothered as he watches the way their vice principal's eyes leave from him to saihara. komaeda shifts his gaze to look around the room just to know if they're the only one's inside or not to hear this conversation. )

What's wrong with a little heads up, though... you are pretty incompetent, what's the point of your position if you can't do something as simple as nurture the hopes of your students.

( he says that, thoughtful as he slides one hand into the pocket of his jacket. )

[ "Without hesitation" was with a lot of hesitation actually, but Komaeda's mind is just gonna do its thing huh... Either way, it's not like Saihara knows; sure, he does notice him kind of shuffling in place, and that does concern him a little... but talking to the Vice Principal is what takes precedence right now. ]

Ah... w-wait. Komaeda-kun, that's... taking it a little too far.

[ He has trouble imagining calling the person more or less in charge of the school incompetent is going to get them anything productive. Even if he was willing to play along with roundabout means to gain answers. So... he'll focus back on the topic for now, weighing what he can even ask. ]

But then... are you saying the points were not interfering? Offering an incentive like that to the student body... At the very least, I have trouble imagining they'd have just... ignored it.

[ No, there were probably lots of people who would have wanted -- and taken -- those points if they could. So what was the meaning behind them, then? ]

[ There are other staff members inside the office, doing that thing where they sit and shuffle papers and pretend they're not listening in but they are- but with the sort of detached curiosity where they will get up and leave for class once it gets closer to the start of class time.

Either way, the vice principal's desk is in a corner and she doesn't pay her coworkers any mind, just looking between Komaeda and Shuichi as they speak in turn. She gives Komaeda a thin lipped smile at being asked what the point is of her position, because honestly? she asks herself the same thing every day. ]

It's not, when it's a system long since set up by the school's principal.

[ Like a background thing, that becomes universal knowledge. Awarding points for solving Aiko's murder is after the fact as well, and wasn't involved in incentivizing her murder— even what Komaeda had said, "even the culprit rewarded," is a weak incentive when the same points can be earned through normal day to day school activities, and those same points have only been used at the vending machines as far as they know. ]

( a system long set up by the school principal, one they didn't even know about, and without them, komaeda was able to act in order to push the students forward. aiko's sacrifice was what they needed towards nurturing the hope around him, and part of him says that he'd do it again if he needed. he sighs softly, raising his prosthetic hand first to stare at the lack of lifelines, and this does nothing for his ever turning mind. he switches to his organic hand to see his fingers twitch, wondering if he's been sitting in place for far too long, and he thinks so. with that decided, he gets up from his chair, kicking it back with his foot so that it falls, clattering to the floor.. )

You can't interfere, and you follow the rules set by the principal.

( he'll close the distance between him and the vice principal's desk, and once the edge presses into his legs, komaeda will crawl on top — sitting himself down on the surface, and maybe knocking some things over? once comfortable, he'll cross his legs (looking behind him to make sure he can block their visual of both of them) while he sits so he can watch her more closely as soon as he turns back to her proper. )

Look at me instead... I'm curious about your hope, and if it'll be useful to an Ultimate like him. ( she is not worthy to look at him! ) ...What's the point of your existence if not to be used towards feeding their hope...?

( he picks at the sleeve of his normal arm, flinching slightly because it's already tender, but because of saihara's mean ass... it hurts again, but he enjoys it... his eyes fall onto the vice principal's arms like he wants to see. )

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