It's time for another FAMILY MEETING!!

[carpevinum]

[There's a sign posted on 3-C on the 27th the future is now indicating that it's that time of month! That's right, it's time for the family meeting!

Lucifer is in charge this time and he is holding a whip, so please behave yourselves or you might get a warning crack near your head. Or don't behave yourselves. He's not your dad. He will, however, try his hardest to keep you all on track.

As Lucifer is also one of the Team Moms Dads, he's also made everybody lunch as he is wont to do. The rather fancy-looking food is set up on a couple of desks at the front of the classroom to peruse at your leisure. There are cookies and muffins as well, but please try to eat a real lunch instead of subsisting off of sweets entirely.

On the whiteboard, Lucifer has written the following topics & talking points that he'd like to discuss with everybody, and has requested that you all raise your hands so that this can be done in an orderly fashion... Good luck, Luci.

• Who is missing? Who is confirmed deceased?
• The gladiatorial battle — is it possible that those who died previously may come back to inflict further harm? Any guesses?
• What the Hell was going on last weekend?
• The void in the auditorium is infinite
• Results of last month's investigations that we agreed on doing
• The imps plaguing the school have been removed (thank you to Clamor for his assistance)
• Have we discovered anything new?

Last but not least, the final bullet is one hundred percent something that Lucifer clearly wants to do, and it reads simply:

• Instating a chore chart

So that's... fun.]

Let's try to keep this more orderly than the last one, shall we?

[And yes, the cardboard baby jail is set up in the back of the classroom! Naughty children go to cardboard baby jail. Naughtier children get a whip cracked at them. Have fun, everyone!]



[[OOC: The usual rules of the family meeting posts apply, which means threadjacking/general mingling is allowed and encouraged! Please remember to only share information your character discovered ICly to avoid metagaming. Also no Lucifer will not actually cause physical harm to anyone's characters with the whip unless player permission is granted, I'm not as psychotic as he is, don't worry about it.]]

Comments

[closewithnewintown]

Yeah. I did. And then it turned out two people I really, really loved and really, really, really trusted did the worst thing a person can do. That they lied, that they kept secrets, that they just...

[she wipes angrily at her eye as the tears start up again.] How am I supposed to ever be okay again? You didn't even have a good reason, either of you! You just gave this place what it wanted!

[commences]

Lied? ( he repeats in his attempt to focus on that, but it's hard hearing foreign words like that directed towards him. lied. loved. it all sounds fake to him, he doesn't deserve anything like that, he's too low on the food chain of life to even be cared for — even his own parents lacked that for him, and maybe that's why he felt nothing when they died too. he doesn't understand those concepts, and he doesn't think he will... it's always been hope. when he was alone, he always had hope. if there was warmth, he had hope... others around him shouldn't say things like that about him, they're better off giving those emotions to someone who's worth it.

he's messed up on various accounts, he doesn't want to be loved. )

I thought I was pretty honest, but I don't lie... Meanswell-san.

( when he spoke from the crawlspace, when he said he would kill for hope, he's said many things to admit that he had taken part to give hope to everyone here. then again, he guesses if it isn't said straight out, people don't consider it the truth — he wonders if stephanie is really like that. )

What I did was for hope, there was a certain outcome that I wanted to see.

( when she starts crying, it starts to send a shiver down his spine, and the same happened when nanami cried on top of him. tears make him feel uncertain, he doesn't know how he should react to them... so he stares, blinking as if it'll help her stop. there's no way to console, he can't do anything that'll make it stop, because if he tries... something bad may happen. )

[closewithnewintown]

Well? Did you get it? [a slightly mocking tone, her jaw clenched.] Is this what you wanted? Everybody's... mad, and sad, and hurt. And people are dead. Is that hope to you? Because it isn't! It's just... awful!

I don't... I've never understood what you mean by "hope." Nothing you say sounds like what hope means to me.

[she fists a hand into her hair, clenching at the strands.] I don't know what hope you got out of breaking my heart. I just... I hope you're happy. Somebody has to be.

[commences]

Explaining hope to someone who doesn't want to understand it makes it tedious, Meanswell-san.

( she sounds frustrated which is understandable, everyone is when a lie is taken, but komaeda's not to pressed about killing. maybe this is what makes the conversation worse — his feelings aren't the same as their feelings. he's bothered by what he's experienced, the way his luck has been acting against him: how hinata changed one morning all because he remembered, and then having to see rokkun almost die, and now how he had to witness shuichi get hurt. he's accepted from the start that he would lose people, he loses them anyway, this is why he's detached from making relationships with people — he'd rather see the group together, and komaeda would give his life for their hope. )

Hope to me is absolute good, to instill hope, it has to be planted, watered, and then the sprouts will peek up from the dirt.

( before, stephanie was bold, strong, kept her head up despite the tears she shed. she didn't completely shut down like she's attempting to do here. )

If a feeble plant can break through the soil, you can overcome this as well! That sort of strength is beautiful, I know you have it in you... I've seen it time and time again.

( his happiness? that's debatable. he's practically going through it himself, and he thinks these negative emotions are better this way. besides, trash like him can't break stephanie's heart... she should understand he's nothing. ) I'm not asking for your forgiveness, I just want to see your hope push through.

[closewithnewintown]

How is making everyone around you miserable "watering" our hope? Killing that girl didn't make anybody feel better about the future! It made us all go crazy! I spent months thinking it was my fault!

... If people kill for stupid reasons now, before this place has even shown us its worst, what's gonna happen when it does? Is it even worth hoping I'll live, let alone see my home again? Or do I just hope that when somebody--

[a sharp intake of breath, and she curls up on herself.]

Wh-When it happens, I hope they don't leave me. I'm scared to be alone. Don't leave me to be found. Don't leave me...

[commences]

I witnessed, I was there.

( he played the role of a third party perfectly, he gave them a little despair, and watched their hope flourish — he even planted a seed for someone to stop his evil deeds, for someone to pull komaeda out of this struggle he has himself in. in return, that person grew too, even during then, steph grew as well. when they had difficulties trying to find out who, when they had all blamed stephanie's friend — she worked hard to try and find the truth, she began to secure her thoughts on what she believed, and would she had done any of what she done if it didn't happen.

as she makes the whole situation sound hopeless, komaeda can only watch as she sobs, blinking slow as he sits down properly. his legs bent, pulled up against his chest, and he rests his cheeks against his knees as they converse. if this place will show the worst of them, and it's only killing, he finds it a miracle. someone like him who watched his dog die before his eyes, a pathetic individual like him who rode a plane with his parents only to be hijacked, a meteor about the size of his hand killing the hijacker and his parents at the same time, a disgusting, worthless child who was kidnapped, and only let go because no one wanted to pay the ransom, an insignificant being who was diagnosed with two medical condition that can kill him at any moment — if the worst that can be done is killing, komaeda would take that over the hell his entire life has been. sadly, his life decided he was... lucky.

if he could die, he would die, he's always wanted to die, but his luck prevents him from meeting his end, because he has to suffer. )

And you prevailed, you managed to pull yourself out of their despair to collaborate with everyone for the truth... which took part in other's hopes that grew from the hurdles before them.

( if only he could feel remorse, if only he could feel something that would make him human, perhaps stephanie was right to equate him to a monster. he's not normal, he can never be, though deep inside, if he had the chance...

...there's a switchblade in his pocket, the same one hiro used to stab kouji, he could give it to her... he could ask her to kill him right now just to end her own suffering. the thought tempts him, he contemplates it, he can feel his fingers twitch at the thought, but... would she be able to overcome his luck... would she just die instead — that's how it always been, everyone dies because of him. he rejects the idea, and instead he focuses on her words. )

Are you asking me to kill you, Meanswell-san, because the blood is covered over my hands? ( he asks, staring at her almost blankly, but it takes a moment for him to pull himself together. ) To kill you, and wait for us both to be found, if that's what you want from me... ( it can be done, but he stops, taking a slow, but deep breath. )

Though, I believe... you're stronger than that, you don't have such a weak hope that could diminish this quickly. Not with everything you've done... you've been through... where did the girl that I met... who didn't even know who the killer was, yet stayed around everyone without discrimination go?

( because even if hiro was the killer, she would have still loved him in the end, what's stopping her from someone like... natsume. komaeda's not including himself, but where was that spunk he saw before, that... hope. )

[closewithnewintown]

None of that happened! We didn't prevail over anything; nobody would've even known anything if Shuichi hadn't told us! [and she wishes he hadn't, can she hope to forget this day ever happened to them.] Whatever your opposite to hope is? That's who prevailed today. That's who got something out of dead people who won't ever get justice, and murderers we can't do anything about.

... We don't have anything here. Everything is against us... The building is against us, the air and the water... All we have is each other. All we... had was trust in each other. How do I ever trust you?

[he asks if she wants him to kill her, and she doesn't even blink, lets it fall off of her like water off a duck's back. because... in truth. despite everything she says out loud. she does still trust them. she doesn't know how to not trust. to not think things will turn out okay in the end, even as her world falls apart for the first time in her life.]

Tell me I can trust you to never, ever do this again. Can you? [please]

[commences]

No, you don't understand true despair, none of you do...

( he says that because that's how he sees it, no one understands his hope, he doesn't understand why he tries. it's better this way, he shouldn't have even tried to... learn the people around him. they're meant to hate him, distrust him, the only thing he's to do is be a stepping stone for their cause — for their hope, even if he's the dead body, or he makes a few more dead bodies... he's always lived like that. )

Thank you, who knew I did excellent in my attempt. ( for shuichi to be the one to reveal him, that's a hope he wanted to grow desprately — that young male who had too many doubts in himself, and now... he's the same one in a condition where he's bleeding, where he's in pain... )

You trust that I'll always do what I can for the hope of those here, no matter what it is...

( that for the most part is the one thing komaeda can't promise, all he's had is hope in his life, and hope requires him to do whatever he can to make it happen. they're in pain now, but they'll overcome to become stronger... yes, natsume taking part like this through a wrench into things, but he knows that everyone here can make it, he knows that stephanie can make it. )

[closewithnewintown]

Of course I don't! I'm ten! My town has a normal population of nine! The worst thing that ever happened to me before I came here was an argument with my best friend! And now my best friends murdered people!

... Sportacus says you should try to be friends with everyone, no matter if they're good or bad. He never stops trying to be friends with Robbie, even when he really tries to hurt him. Because hurt people hurt people, and people who are hurting need friends the most.

[she swallows hard.]

But, I don't think I can be your friend right now.

[commences]

This is where you misunderstand me. I didn't come here to be your friend, I didn't come here to ask for forgiveness — I came here to remind you of your promise.

( that's it, he wanted her to remember that she doesn't have to give up, that she's still strong — despair dies, and what's born is a stronger hope. that's how it works, that's how it always worked. komaeda accepts this as law, it's better this way to him, his luck won't bother anyone who doesn't bother him (he hopes), and so he nods his head. )

...I do hope you return home, to a world where arguments are the worst thing that can happen.

( because what happens here, it can't be helped, there's nothing he can do to fix anything — he believes what he did was right, is what was needed. ) You'll live, your hope won't falter, you'll understand rather than mourning, and sobbing, there are people who need you.

( he clears his throat, and he stands up properly as he dusts himself off. it's done slow, thoughtful as if he's reflecting on what they've discussed, until he nods to himself. ) Good luck is around the corner for you, because you managed to get through the bad... ( he walks over to the door of the classroom, and he speaks one last time before closing the door behind him, he doubts she wants anyone walking in on her at a time like this. ) Goodbye, Meanswell-san.

[closewithnewintown]

... Goodbye, Komaeda.

[and maybe the door will close before the next sob wracks her body. that'd be his luck.]

[commences]

( this is the SECOND time komaeda has heard someone cry as he shut the door, GODDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD. )