OK overture

[sisters]

Who: Rantarou Amami & anyone who hits me up
What: June catch-all
When: 06/01 onwards
Where: Various locations
Warnings: TBA

---

mise picked for me

This post serves as a place for me to gather all of Amami's closed threads, starters, and miscellany through the month. If you want to set something up, I can be reached by PM or at kagehira

Comments

komaeda — 06/01, clock tower, as promised

[sisters]

( the clock tower doesn't seem to be bothered too often. not by transfers, not by natives; amami's pretty sure he's heard a couple reasons, including some pretty far-fetched ghost stories that included some ghostly, armored figure guarding the steps, but him? he has yet to see anything too concerning in here yet. and while, you know, there's no small amount of emphasis on the yet, it's still empty. it's empty, and amami's not so opposed to the idea of spending time with others; on the contrary, the shallow imitation of normalcy is somewhat comforting. but sometimes, you think about the fact that very nearly all of your classmates spent yesterday afternoon watching a gladiatorial deathmatch between a pit full of (mostly) teenagers desperate to survive, and you just...

yeah.

it's a good place to be though. empty, mostly, and relatively undisturbed. at least, it seemed like it would be; it isn't long before he's proven wrong on this front, however. right, because before long, he can hear it. tap, tap, tap... the sound of someone ascending the steps. he doesn't move though, isn't that averse to seeing another right now — just kind of sits there, chewing on some anpan he picked up at the vending machine. )

[commences]

( the tap, tap, tap... has a bounce in their steps as he makes his way up the flight, and once he's visible to the other ultimate he'll see a taller gentleman with a hand pressed along his stomach, and his robotic arm holding it up. aside from that, it's the same insane individual that amami is probably familiar with, considering he has a smile on his face, and a sparkle in his eye. as soon as komaeda's eyes fall upon him, his heart skips a beat in excitement — )

I did feel an Ultimate up this way... it's pretty lucky that I ran into you!

( or did he come here because of the aura that wafts from amami, either way, it doesn't take time for him to speak about what's on his mind. it's an attempt to make conversation, especially when only so few listened to him. he didn't see that much of amami, or rather, komaeda wasn't looking for him, but while he does have him in his sight. )

Did you witness it yesterday? The way Ishimaru-kun's hope took root...

[sisters]

Yep. Heard your little speech, too.

( kinda wishes he hadn't, that nobody else had to either, and that this freak could read the room, but that's all an aside, really. he didn't do anything at the time — and, frankly, no matter how komaeda processes such things, the fact of the matter is that he wasn't the one responsible for making them happen. amami, for his part, would rather keep his eyes on the prize so to speak; there's no point in fighting amongst themselves while the person (people?) behind this are able to continue orchestrating it.

not so different, really, from the way he would prefer to get to the point of this interaction. his expression remains neutral, but his words still come out sounding a bit short. )

Did you need something?

[commences]

Isn't it beautiful that he of all people presented us... and his hope was strong enough to overcome her...

( he laughs, his prosthetic hand lifting as he stares into the center, and there are no lifelines for him to stare lovingly at. instead, he looks at how the black and white of his attachment are split on different sides, and that gives him a sense of happiness. hope is shining, hope is what came from ishimaru, and he's delighted. he looks at the other, now, his arm dropping down by his side, and he smiles softly right after. he appears normal for now, and his voice light as he speaks up. )

Are you going to visit Ishimaru-kun? I wondered if Ultimates would flock to other Ultimates when their hope is beaming... but here you are.

( ishimaru's practically illuminating, is he really going to miss out on that? )

[sisters]

( yeah, nope. not gonna touch that one. a guy like ishimaru? he's the absolute last person who would have deserved to go through something like that; while amami is glad that he made it out alive, had a long moment of concern where he wasn't entirely sure if the other would or not, it's not an experience he ever would have wished on someone for the sake of making them "strong."

so he's just going to blink and watch komaeda stare at his hand like a freak, as if it has some kind of answers about hope that it's whispering in his ear or something. okaaaaaaay. )

I was thinking about it.

( he was, truthfully. at the same time, with the response of the other transfer students, it seems like he's hardly going to be the only one to consider it. )

It looks like he might be getting a lot of attention, so I thought I'd give it a bit before I check in on him.

( you know, for processing. the shock of an experience like that... might take a day or so, or even longer, to really deal with. )

[commences]

That doesn't matter, as Symbols of Hope, you should all come together so that everyone's light is just as radiant.

( he sighs, dropping his one hand down by his side as the other remains pressed against his body. it still pains him, stinging in the center of his forearm from his reckless behavior. he welcomes it though, that sort of pain only means good things are along the way. it's the same for ishimaru, the amount of pain he went though, and to bring upon an outcome not too many people expected, komaeda sighs softly — he agrees, he didn't seem like the type to get in that sort of scuffle, but that'll bring upon unimaginable, and tremendous hope. everyone should have it now from seeing that if he can do it, any ultimate can! )

It'd even be good for him. To have that many people around him, that's why Ultimates are friends, aren't they?

( he probably shouldn't speak what he doesn't know, but being together isn't bad, you know? )

[insecution]

[ After tending to Kiyotaka’s wounds, Shinobu stays in classroom 2-E to ‘clean up’—or so she says. What she really wants, though, is to be able to reorganize her thoughts. She sits at her desk in a daze she’s previously only associated with sleepless nights and overworking, her mind and body pushed past their limits to reach a rare, blessed stillness. She’s so far beyond tired, she’s ready for the hole in the not-auditorium to devour her whole.

A knock at the door makes her eyes fly wide, interrupting that thought. Her posture stiffens just a shade, and the atmosphere sours. Great. If Rantaro’s come here to see her, it’s not because he wants to say hi; it’s because he’s sick or hurt—sometimes even both—and he wants her to do something about it. Case in point, he’s nursing his stomach like whatever he had for lunch is disagreeing with him.

Oh, well. After a day like today, what’s one more patient? ]

Well, hello there, Amami-san.

[ She turns in her chair to face him, her smile so wide, it’s a wonder it hasn’t split her face in two. ]

To what do I owe the pleasure?

[sisters]

( lot of faith in him, now isn't that! well, anyway, it's not as if she's entirely off the mark either. leaning against the doorframe as he gives a knock to catch her attention, it's pretty clear that he's not in the best of shape — no matter how he prefers to get others involved as little as possible, or to brush these things off as if they haven't happened... after the tumble he took? it's probably better safe than sorry when it comes to checking the degree of his injury.

when she offers a smile that feels just a bit too happy to see him in this state, amami will return it with a softer one of his own. )

Kochou-san, sorry. I'm not interrupting, am I?

( lifting up one hand in a wave while the other arm remains wrapped around his lower ribs, he... doesn't actually wait for an answer before stepping inside, making his way over. )

I was hoping you wouldn't mind doing a quick check-up.

[insecution]

[ Had Shinobu the energy to fight, she would have told him yes, she does mind. Fortunately for Rantaro, she doesn’t, so she heaves a sigh and gets up out of her seat. The sooner she examines him, the sooner he’ll be out of her hair. ]

I have time to take a look at you. Take a seat, please.

[ She pulls out the chair next to her desk and pats its bottom. It’s a test: can he even sit in the condition he’s in? ]

What seems to be the matter?

[sisters]

( oh, jeez, what a sigh. lucky for amami that he's not fully paying attention at the moment! it's kind of hard to do so when his head hurts almost as bad as his chest, and now he's looking at the seat like it's some kind of puzzle. give him a minute though, and he'll get it — putting his hands on either side of it to lower himself down like he's eighty years old instead of eighteen. as he hisses out an exhale through gritted teeth, his smile reads more as a grimace when he tries to keep it steady. the sheepishness of his expression, at least, isn't entirely lost in the visible pain. )

It's... kind of a long story, actually, but I had a bit of a fall earlier. I just wanted to be sure it's nothing serious, is all.

( ma'am, he just wants to know he won't be dead by morning when the infirmary opens and he'll be out of your hair. )

[insecution]

[ Shinobu, brow raised and eyes wide, seems taken aback by Rantaro’s explanation. Is that it? ]

A ‘bit of a fall’?

[ She looks him up and down for anything that stands out as immediately wrong. Her keen eye does not miss the way he struggles to take his seat, nor does she miss the way his smile falters. From his stoic refusal to show pain, she wagers his injuries are much, much worse than he’s letting on. ]

And how far did you fall exactly, Amami-san?

[sisters]

How far, huh?

( to be honest, it takes him a bit of thought. bringing a hand to his chin, he glances off to the side to avoid her gaze, thinking it through. lets see, it looked like a bit of a drop, but it was over pretty quick too. he hadn't really given much thought to the distance he'd fallen either, given the state he'd been in after the fact. so with a pause for him to think through it, the conclusion he reaches? )

Uh, well I don't think it was a full story.

( which is to say, it still must have been pretty far. enough for concern, and about as well as he can really define it without getting into the event itself. but still framed so that maybe, if it's not that much, it doesn't sound as bad. )

rika & komaeda — 06/10, music room

[sisters]

By the way, there's something I've been meaning to ask you guys.

( we'll start it off like this — and whether it's breaking the silence or interrupting the mourning for maurice or whatever that dead fucking rat's name was is up for y'all to decide, but the point is that amami's obviously got something that he wants to say. lingering to stick around with rika after their most recent (actual, supervised) outdoor survival club meeting, it seems as good an opportunity as any to bring up his thoughts. he's not getting anywhere with them alone anyway, so he continues. )

Have you guys come across any strange rocks while you're here? There's this one I've been looking for — the kind with a hole in the middle.

[contrarily]

( she's probably busying herself with re-applying her lip gloss, now that she's got it back from home, so it's not exactly interrupting. she has to look good to mourn wilbur's death, after all... )

Hmm... I've only seen one rock. Well, two, if you count the one Koma-kyun brought from outside to give to Rocchi. ( a strange rock...

well, she supposes the one rokkun gave her was all strange as it comes. it didn't have a hole inside of it, though. ) He's kind of, super into rocks, for whatever reason. ... why?

[commences]

What are you talking about?

( what strange rocks with holes? well, he guesses the rock he found for rokkun had a hole inside, but the way rika speaks about it like it's entirely different from whatever amami is talking about. he stares between both him and then the female beside him, but in the end, he finds himself drawn back to looking at his fellow ultimate. )

Ah... Of course an idiot like me wouldn't have what you need, Amami-kun, I'm useless after all.

[sisters]

Hey, it's not such a big deal. I didn't think it'd be something easy to come across, honestly.

( way too useful in a place like this to just be lying around for them to find, that's for sure. there's no reason to feel bad about it? )

But that's a surprise — you mean Arata-kun, right? Is he looking for one too?

[contrarily]

( well. that was a weird-ass thing to hear coming from komaeda. she doesn't actually watch him interact with other 'ultimates' that often, so it's always like. huh?

anyway, why are boys so obsessed with fucking rocks?? she doesn't get it. )

Nah, it's more like... he was looking for a different rock. But I guess he might've seen one of the rocks you want, too... ?

[commences]

( he feels a little disappointed in himself over the fact he's unable to do anything to help — why are men obsessed with rocks? like aefenglom rocks person. he's pretty compliant, and even rika's existence (i'm sorry queen) isn't anything he remembers at the moment until she speaks up. he glances down at her, listening to the rock dwayne rockkuson lore, and he nods. )

Why use a rock when you have me, I don't mind being a stepping stone towards your cause...

( he's walking over to one of the windows within the room, trying to see if he's able to lift it because he doesn't mind falling out the window again for a rock. )

komaeda — 06/24, library

[sisters]

( it's been A Week.

naturally, it's not something amami has the right to complain about — he's a bystander more than anything, as things continue to fall apart. even so, he's not going to simply watch as it happens. he gives komaeda, at least, a day or so before he does anything. then two. then three. when he still doesn't show up for class nor club, amami decides to take it upon himself to check on him.

it takes him a little bit of searching but, before long, he finds the other — in the very same place they'd met, coincidentally. curled up with a book, leaning against a shelf towards the back of the library, amami pauses only for a moment before he comes over. lowering himself slowly onto the ground beside komaeda, he'll offer a half-hearted smile, glancing at the book komaeda has open before pulling out his own. with the notebook flipped to an empty page, amami will scribble only a couple of words down before holding it out for komaeda to look at. )

good book?

[commences]

( the book he picked out was pretty lucky considering all the reference ones lined from here to there — "the mirror crack'd from side to side" he's about three pages in, so it's obvious that he's recently made his way inside, or perhaps he's finished one, and had this one ready as his next. either way, he doesn't expect anyone to come around him — this school dislikes him, so why? he thought that would be his excuse at first, but out the corner of his eye, it's easy to tell from the color of hair and way of dress who's beside him. )

...

( it's awkward, he thinks, from what happened last time — well, the last time he saw amami, and with those days passing to meet him again here... it feels troublesome. he can sit there, but if komaeda doesn't say anything (because he can't) it'll be fine, besides, trash like him shouldn't associate with an ultimate anyway. or so he thought, anyway. as he notices the slip of paper given to him, komaeda turns his head away to ignore it at first, but part of him won't... it pains him, so as he flips to the next page.

he focuses on it, before handing over the book with the page he's left off on. amami can make his own judgement if he flips through. however, komaeda reaches out for a different book that he's already read that's next to him. this one he actually knows, but he flips to the second page, starting from there as he remains quiet — though, he can't fix that, but the look in his eyes seem empty, like he's not even reading the words on the page. )

[sisters]

( “Mr. Badcock, I’m afraid I’ve given her a lot of trouble.”

hmm, understood. well, in any case, it's not that amami's oblivious to the way komaeda hesitates; turning his head away, pretending like he doesn't see the note that's been shifted towards him, but he doesn't take offense to the fact. simply waits it out, watching patiently as komaeda seems to give in to acknowledging his presence, and passes over his own book. and while it wasn't exactly amami's intention to go stealing his reading material, he's hardly going to turn down an opportunity, so he accepts the novel with a gentle smile.

the fact, though, is that the library is quiet. even if it wasn't, it doesn't seem as though komaeda's in any mood to talk, and amami isn't one to force him after... the incident before. instead, he'll simply settle himself in comfortably next to komaeda, shoulder brushing against the other's as he fixes the way he's sitting to be easier on him, and flip the book open to the page komaeda had left it on. a quick skim of his eyes across the words, and he'll turn it back to the first, reading along from the beginning. it's not much, but he imagines it should be fine — staying for an hour or so. )

[commences]

( he could flee the scene, it doesn't take that much energy to push himself up and leave the library, but how much of a pain would it be to go outside where he would have to converse with someone. he likes it better within the library surrounded by various books to get away, whisk himself in another fantasy where his luck can't do anything to change it. people die because of him, they're harmed, and he doesn't have to blame himself if the story's main character does — they were written to die, so he doesn't feel uncomfortable.

what drives it home is amami's shoulder brushing against his own, and komaeda flinches slightly, but more the other can feel than see if he wasn't watching. he exhales, not hearing his voice, but his imagination fills in all the soundless spots of his actions to make things feel like normal. nothing really feels normal anymore really, he feels too detached, wants to be detached from the people around him. he reminds himself that it's better that way... it appears so considering amami sits in the library with him, and there's nothing that's happened.

it's probably because komaeda ignored him more than the attention he gave, perhaps the book was a small bit of contact that was enough. maybe amami can learn the story behind the characters in that one, because the one komaeda has in hand, as he stares at it, the page hasn't moved for about five minutes. )

[sisters]

( even if komaeda is ignoring him, it's not as if amami minds the fact. he's not here because he's seeking anything in particular, really; rather, it just wouldn't quite feel right if he didn't come. he might not understand komaeda, not the nonchalant way he voices only the most incendiary remarks he can think of, and not the way of thinking that amami can never quite track, but one thing is clear:

he's not a bad guy.

not on purpose, at least. that's the conclusion that amami has come to for the time being — after watching, time and time again, as the other made his clumsy attempts to support the people around them. to care about them. komaeda's behaviour may be a mystery, but it would be unreasonable, to say the least, if he were to expect komaeda to drop everything to pay attention to him now, of all times. instead, he's perfectly content to simply flip through the pages of the book that's been shared with him in silence.

he'll still notice after a while if komaeda hasn't turned the page of his own yet though, glancing to him curiously after some time has passed. )

[commences]

( why hasn't he left yet? why is he still here? why does his head hurt so bad when he reflects back on everything he's done so far. he stares at the page of words, but he can't bring himself to read them properly — all he can think about is how he watched rokkun slowly die before his eyes, the way his body was almost ripped to shreds, how he kept holding him... it makes his hand shake. that was a moment where if they managed to get through that then... their hope would be stronger, but he wouldn't be surprised if rokkun wanted nothing to do with him anymore.

he isn't surprised if he dropped dead, if someone dies the next day because of him, or even right now. he's already imagining what will happen to amami right now, perhaps blood will pour from between his lips, and he'll just fall to the side — he'll lay on top of the books bleeding out, and komaeda will just sit there with his body wasting away. he should, this is how he should be with everyone, but at least he'll stay... accepting that it's him. the thought weighs on him extra hard, his nails digging into the palm of his hand, and even his knuckles turn white.

he takes a deep breath, closing his eyes, and his head falls back against the bookshelf, and he glances up at the ceiling above him. there's nothing happening there, he guesses, his luck wouldn't do much here in the first place — only small, insignificant things that won't matter. like him, he shouldn't matter, and so why is... amami still here. he can't remove him from his mind because he's an ultimate despite being unaware of his talent —

what is he, what can he do? to gauge the strength of his hope is just by seeing what he can do. komaeda's head hurts worse, so he finally drops it back down to look at the book — it says nothing that'll help him. what it does is remind him he hasn't ate, but he doesn't have an appetite anymore, rather... he has a dead expression as he stares at the book, completely tired. )

nanami — 06/29~ish, first floor

[sisters]

( if nanami wants to check on him, the best bet would be to give him a day or so to, y'know, change out of his bloodstained clothes, etc. as far as where, patience is short if interrupted with rika. with a little luck though, she may come across him as he's leaving the library some time in the late afternoon. he looks calmer, with less immediate stress weighing down on his shoulders.

granted, even if he sees her, it's not as if he has a reason to approach her first. )