adsum | npc contact.1

[ Diverse is an answer, okay, ]

I wouldn't say I have absolutely no interest, but I know better than to get too involved with anybody. You do to. Or you'd best do.

[ He has to; that's why their interactions read more like business transactions rather than normal people conversations. What good is it to know somebody when they're liable to get their skull smashed through in the library during a fire evacuation any day. ]

( Well.

She's right. He does know, especially as of late, but it's much easier to get what you want out of people if they think you're better friends than you are. She could at least pretend to be willing, except - she wouldn't, because that's how she is, isn't it. They have similar ways of thinking, but she's a little more like the opposite side of the pillow.

...It's frustrating; she's frustrating; but he still likes her, and after a moment he sits back up, picks his chopsticks up, and helps himself to some vegetables, too. )

Then let's not get inVOLVED, Little Wolf. I'd like to learn more about you as a perSON, but I can do that without wanting MORE. And if you're not completely opposed to learning more about ME, then I'm sure you can manage the same level of disinterest of whatever kind you have about me TOO. ( A little shrug. ) If nothing ELSE, at least appearing friendly with one another can help with an aliBI, if one of us ever finds ourselves in need of ONE. You can't risk your presidential title or your brother every TIME.

A fake friendship? Are you for real, Sakasaki? Springing that excuse on people would be the opposite of an alibi— it would be suspicious, considering I make a point not to showcase any friendships, fake or otherwise.

[ Look at her!!! If a murder happens and she says "oh, yeah, I couldn't have done it because I was hanging out with my best pal, Sakasaki" would anybody not be immediately suspicious?? ]

I don't think SO. There's a decent number of people who come to me to talk about you, you KNOW. It's well-known among my associates that you and I have a little something going ON.

( This sounds more incriminating than the reality is, and he's stretching the truth a bit too - but it isn't exactly a lie, either. Where she doesn't like the muddied grey area between truth and lies, he revels in it.

...This isn't something he's above doing either, but he knows it won't win him any real points — he goes ahead anyway, adding a little softer: ) I'm sure Hiro-kun would be happy if he thought you had at least one friend TOO.

[ Oh, that's dirty, bringing Hiro into this, and Maya can't help the way her face twists at the thought. Even more so than the insinuation that they have "a little something going on" god ]

I will not lie to him and get his hopes up. I have my hands full with him and myself already; he knows I have neither need nor want of friends.

That doesn't mean he doesn't still hope that you can make ONE.

( Checkmate... Hiro's a good kid who loves his sister. )

You know humans aren't very logical creatures, don't YOU?

[ Don't checkmate her!! Her brother is a fool who still hopes she can make friends... ]

I know. You're evidence of that every time I get the pleasure of your company.

[ Look at them having a picnic, insane ]

So you do like talking to ME.

( He's touched, Maya, truly... She's probably being sarcastic but he can ignore that to tease her. )

I have my reasons for bothering you; I wouldn't call that completely illogiCAL. In the same VEIN, you have two LEGS. I've seen you use THEM. If you really didn't want to give me the time of DAY, you could have walked off at any TIME. ( But she didn't, and she still isn't. ) Why indulge me with conversation if all it gets you is more of my compaNY?

[ Maya starts packing up a lunchbox so she can get up and leave. ]

( Hey wait—

he yanks away whatever she's picking from at the moment with a sigh, raising it above his head. )

I was only kidDING, Little Wolf. Stay a little while lonGER? ( ... ) I promise to refrain from teasing you about things that aren't in any way TRUE.

[ He really is going to use his height to his advantage, huh, like she's a child. ]

Maybe refrain from teasing in general.

[ He does not get a pass if it's true; that would probably piss her off more, calling her out. Like saying she isn't very forthcoming... ]

...I thought you would have a good reason for doing this. That's why I came and why I stayed. [ The benefit of the doubt, a second chance, because she gives those even when she's unwilling. ] You say you have your reasons. Is this worth your reasons?

[ Having to deal with her? ]

( Drink your milk and you'll grow, Maya.

Is this worth his reasons? He lowers the food, sets it back down so she can keep taking more from it if she wants. )

...It isn't as if dealing with you is a CHORE, Little Wolf. ( He wouldn't keep talking to her without reason if it was; and sure, their conversations have been more on the business-side, but he doesn't just get what he wants and leaves - he enjoys the conversations he has with her, because she brings something new even in the littlest ways, gives him something to think about and work with.

Besides.

It's cute that for all he's technically harassed or bullied her into talking with him, she hasn't stabbed him yet or gotten her brother to. Don't think he hasn't noticed the worst she's done is try to break his toes, which wouldn't stop him from contacting her anyway. He keeps all of this to himself though - she wouldn't appreciate it, and for all he can flirt and tease he still doesn't come out with his feelings all that easy. ) So yes - I'd say it's worth my reaSONS.

[ Hiro out there with his Fujiya milkies like they'll help--

She waits for him to say what it is, then, if not a chore, but he doesn't and she won't ask for his reasons because she's not supposed to care or show any sort of interest if she can help it. At least she can be sure it's not treating her like a game— something to solve or fix like one gets the urge to do so when encountering somebody confusing and difficult to understand, except that understanding her is no fun.

She huffs, though, and sits down again. Set that bento down so she can continue packing for Hiro. Speaking of, though, ]

And your intentions with my brother?

[ Hiro, who is difficult to get along with but for wholly different reasons. ]

Our first conversaTION, you asked me to look out for HIM, so that's what I'm doING.

( He goes back to propping his chin in his hand, watching her pack her bento; he won't stop her from leaving this next time, he knows better than to try his luck twice with her. )

Or what I've intended to do, at any RATE... In theory it's easy enough to proMISE, but not so much in pracTICE. ( He concedes to his folly of not... exactly doing his best on that front. And it's... after a moment that he continues; he hadn't intended to tell her anything further, especially since he asked Hiro not to, but— ) I'll be plain and say my initial intentions towards him weren't quite so altruisTIC, as I'm sure you've probably already thought of ME.

( He presses his lips together, considering, and cuts his gaze away. )

He... trusts ME, or trusted me in that moMENT, and I felt I couldn't just lie to him - so I told him SO, even if my feelings had since changed from when I agreed to keep an eye on HIM.

And they HAD. ( He glances at her, then away again. Emotional honesty doesn't come naturally to him, but he's felt like being honest with them in particular is probably not a terrible idea. Give a little to get a little, isn't that what he and Shuichi had proposed? In essence. ) We talked it OUT, and he's willing to be friends with me - and I HIM, obviously - so things are... FINE.

( ...or really, Natsume talked, and Hiro was quiet, and it worked out. Every day, Natsume is grateful that Hiro is both lonely enough and kind enough to extend second chances; he's similarly glad that Maya's giving him one too, or at least is gracing his presence with hers long enough to decide if she actually wants to give him one.

He finally looks back at her again, lips pulling in a slight smirk. ) You two really are charming individuALS. As soon as you have the opportunity to do SO, you ask about each oTHER. I'm almost jeaLOUS.

[ She's quite as she listens, hands falling still when Natsume admits to the truth, something she had already suspected but she is always suspecting by default, has to keep her guard up no matter what, she knows better to, now. The validation is bitter, though, and doesn't make it easier to hear— what does make it easier is the rational part of her brain, which tells her that she did indeed ask Natsume to look out for her brother, a stranger to him back then, and she does not believe in walking up to somebody and becoming immediate friends, she did not expect the same from him. It's the same task she assigned Ishimaru, it's the same task she'll assign others, because this is the only thing she can't do on her own: keep an eye on her brother.

He had cried that day he spoke with Natsume, didn't tell her, and she couldn't tell. He's always coming home in tears after his counseling sessions. She couldn't tell. ]

He trusts easily and I don't. So of course I'll always ask about him and make sure he's okay... He's all I have left.

And he loves you just the SAME. I'm an only CHILD, so I can't imagine what's that LIKE.

( It isn't even the same with his fellow Eccentrics... that love is what keeps the hope alive that she'll give in and accept some semblance of friendship though, he's sure. Is that something to be jealous of... Maybe a little.

"All I have left," huh. That doesn't imply plain busyness, not like with his parents, but something a little longer lasting - she's probably heard enough condolences in her life though, so he holds tight onto those and tucks the information away quietly. )

How long has it just been the two of YOU?

[ The question makes her frown a little, because this is encroaching on private territory even if the rational part of her brain says it's just natural conversation, the more careful part warns her to stop, warns her that leaving Natsume crumbs is just as bad an idea of feeding him a full meal, maybe worse. ]

Long enough. [ is the guarded answer that she gives, which could really mean anything upwards from a second, when it comes to losing everybody but a sibling. ]

You needn't concern yourself with it. I am capable, and so is he.

[ Despite appearances... Any person who can stab a man and spend the next two months crying after school every day has got to be capable in their own right. ]

( A few years, maybe, or a few more years than that... He shakes his head though, perish the thought. )

I never said you two weren't capable - it's not like I'm worried about you two or your home LIFE. I was just curiOUS. ( It was the natural flow of conversation - it's just what anyone would follow up with. ) Plenty of people our age have to take care of themselves anyway; I don't think your situation warrants conCERN.

( Or maybe that's just the group of people he's growing up around right now, especially with Ensemble Square's dorming situation - he just doesn't see it as anything special. )

I'd be more concerned if you two were locked out every night until your parents came home to let you IN.

[ Maya: I lost my entire family except my brother—-
Natsume: you're not special

That's not what he said or how she should take it, but. Anyways. ]

No... Even in a case like that, I have house keys, and know where the spare is on the property. [ She's not a child??? She would not sit on the front steps waiting for her parents to come home, she would sooner pry open a window. Hiro might sit and wait, but that's him. ]

( Of course she does, she's a responsible young lady. )

Is it under the doorMAT, or in a plant POT? ( haha, ) Just kidDING... It's good to be well-prePARED, but I would've thought you wouldn't need any spares between you and Hiro-kun...

( ...hmm, unless? )

Do you two ever go home separateLY, or are you always togeTHER? ( ? he can't imagine them Not being together, but that's because twins are a set. do not separate, etc. )

[ The question makes her frown more than it should, like she also can't imagine them Not being together. ]

Sometimes it's unavoidable. It's not like we're attached at the hip, or he'd have joined us for our little... picnic.

[ Ugh. She wants to leave. Nobody is allowed to walk by and see this. ]

( No, the local gossip girl should walk by and see this, that would be hilarious— )

You sound like you're not enjoying this at ALL, Little Wolf. ( ...She probably isn't, but he's returning to eating... ) Would you have actually preferred him to be HERE?

[ The local gossip girl is Komaeda poking his head out from the ceiling tiles and Maya would kill him on sight. ]

No.

[ She goes back to packing lunch... ]

You mean to be friends with him, don't you? Have lunch with him someday. In a group, he will just be complacent.

[ If the three of them ate together, he would just sit back and watch silently... she would have to be the one making conversation with Natsume... what a nightmare ]

( Stop, you're right. )

I'll do THAT. ( He chews thoughtfully, and: ) Would you accept having a picnic with me again someTIME? If you didn't mind my cooking, that IS.

( given summer break is nearly upon them it probably won't be any time soon so she can take heart in that but )

Your cooking isn't the problem.

[ It's the fact that it's a picnic, during school hours, in the middle of the auditorium, sitting on a cute soft blanket. ]

Meet me on the roof someday and I might think about it.

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christ ori im so sorry for how chunky this tag is

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