( SEMI CLOSED ) it's all about ascension i guess

[mermaidcursed]

Who: Nene Yashiro & Others
What: Catch All for July!
When: All of July, save for backdated threads
Where: School Grounds
Warnings: Edited in as required!

a general catch-all for july for nene yashiro! if you're going to put your own starter up, please give me a head's up first. feel free to plot with me on my plotting comment, discord ( partially stars #5888 ) or amity_rose

Comments

[mermaidcursed]

Why are you apologizing?

( part of her wants to tell him, 'don't say sorry for being hurt, dummy'. or something else that carries that soft familiarity. but... she gets the feeling that until things clear up, it might feel bitter in her mouth.

regardless, she comes a bit further in, pulling a chair over for a seat. )

... You did, yeah. But... ( with everything that was happening? ) It couldn't have been helped, I think.

[unsurely]

[ Why is he apologizing? He doesn't quite know the answer himself, but... he felt like it. There's a part of his mind, maybe from being idle and confined in the nurse's office with nothing to do, that's just all too aware... of how his own actions led to what happened. His choice to reveal the truth in front of everyone, no matter what.

But it's not like he wants to make this about blaming himself. ]

Ah, well... maybe it couldn't have, but...

[ If it bothered her... ]

There were better solutions, I'm sure. I just couldn't think of them at the time...

[mermaidcursed]

Could have, should have, would have. Hindsight only helps the future. The past's already happened, and there's no changing it for most people.

( it looks like that's something they both have to accept after june. )

... You owe Okane-san an apology, if we ever can contact her again. It's not nice to lie to the dead. But... even though I didn't want to, I understand why you did it.

( she's omitted things too, because someone who didn't know her secrets- or someone she didn't want knowing- was around. and maybe that's part of why she's here today. it's why she's not asking for an apology herself, despite what she feels and how long it took for her to approach. )

[unsurely]

[ So she's pieced that together... It's not that surprising, in hindsight -- everything it really takes is a look at the dates it all happened. And Shuichi's been ready for that, in a way. ]

...You're right. I'm sorry. But if I'd told Okane-san who her killer was at that point... ah, to begin with, I had to make certain first. That was still just three days from the meeting... I wasn't sure.

[ The meeting where he'd discovered that final piece -- through those days, he'd still been struggling to believe it himself. But it's not like he's placing the blame on that reason alone... Even if he'd managed to piece the evidence together in a satisfactory manner by then, he still might have chosen no different. ]

Besides... I couldn't know what would happen. She was in an agitated state, and I couldn't predict what she'd do... what you'd do.

[ What is a... spirit (it's still hard to believe)... in that form like Aiko's even capable of? If she'd gotten enraged, would she be able to harm or affect a still living student in school? He's no expert on ghosts... even if he's seen horror movies or read some books, it's not like those necessarily would depict the truth. ]

nene: talks about ghost shit, doesnt confirm anything... she might still be a bit miffed i see

[mermaidcursed]

... I don't believe she was in a state to truly do anything, looking back on it. I think the spirits attached to the gorinto are severely weakened- they can only speak if given an offering, maybe even only on the other side.

( but she'd been startled, and she didn't have hanako-kun.

... what she'd do, huh? )

I couldn't tell you what I'd do.

( avoid him even more? wish she could stop caring about him even harder? hah. )

... What... was the point of the bounty, then?

holds her gently

[unsurely]

That's... the part that isn't entirely clear, even to me. But there were other murders and no one offered anything for their solution, right?

[ He's still a little guilty -- avoidant, somewhat, choosing to fix his gaze on a vase of flowers on one of the nurse's supply cabinets rather than on Nene herself as he thinks. The flowers... must be pretty old, since they're kind of in the process of wilting. Weak and barely hanging on...

Was that what Aiko's spirit had been like when they spoke to her? ]

It's what I told Ishimaru-kun... the Vice Principal only gave us vague reasons, like how it's because Okane-san's murder was the first one, or because of her position in the school. They're not... exactly things we can test.

[ Because, you know what "testing" that would entail. ]

[mermaidcursed]

Wha- but that makes no sense!

( perhaps it's childish, the way she slumps down into a chair and crosses her arms with a frown. )

... I hate that- that she could even say that she was more important, or that the first murder would be... ranking people's lives like that...

( but yogen high school is an awful place.

after a long moment of silence, she sits back up properly, leaning forward as her fingers curl around the bottom of the chair. )

You know. I was gonna be really mad at you. You lied to Okane-san and... to me, after all. ... But like I said. I get why you did it... and if I did that, I'd be a huge hypocrite. I've been keeping secrets myself, after all.

[unsurely]

[ That's... what he thought as well. Somehow, hearing it from Nene at least reduces it from the same dull anger he felt while discussing it -- while deciding what to do, while writing his PDA post, and while bringing it up in the faculty office -- to something more akin to exhausted acceptance. He'd almost forgotten... but it feels just a little reassuring to have someone else with him, mirroring how he feels. Something to tell him he isn't the one going crazy.

There's an already peeled orange on a plate beside the bed -- apparently someone brought it for him while he was sleeping -- which Shuichi moves to retrieve. But the change of conversation topic has him pausing, the item now rested in his lap while he looks up, a brief note of surprise on his features. ]

Ah... w-well, I suppose with this situation, most of us would probably have at least one or two...

[ Things they'd be wary of saying, of sharing with others. It isn't really that unthinkable Nene would be the same. He thinks they're at the point where, maybe, both of them share a mutual understanding of that fact; neither of them can blame anyone for trying to keep their cards a little close. She probably knows he won't reprimand her... but she's choosing to tell him anyway. There's most likely a reason for that. ]

But if you're worried enough about it that you'll forgive me doing the same... then this is what I think. It's probably something you feel would be able to help in some way, right? So that's why you're feeling guilty for holding back.

[ That's his deduction, as a detective. ]

[mermaidcursed]

( nene listens to him reason things out- it feels like it's more for his sake, to deduce something that isn't... that isn't someone beloved and trusted having taken a life. if she were a smart person who could reason things out like that, she thinks she'd need the reprieve as well. )

You're mostly right... I wish it was more helpful than it has been. ... I see ghosts. And.. spirits. Back home, it's my job to help keep the balance between the supernatural and the living. Both can easily endanger the other without realizing, and while the supernatural need to be remembered- to be frightening enough to be remembered- they shouldn't be hurting each other. I'm used to not telling anyone at home- and I've barely told anyone here... even during the imps. I was afraid, of people's reactions, or the wrong people finding out... I didn't consider the consequences because I was used to someone saving the day, no matter what.

( if she'd spoken up, would more people have survived...? she doesn't know. but hajun's already scolded her thoroughly, and guilt still sits in her chest. she doesn't need a second dosage. but even if she blames herself, shuichi's seen her single tally mark by now- and he'll know that there's been no addition, even if she's not aware of the significance. )

But... it's so empty here. The Gardener... and Okane-san, they're possibly my first encounters here that I remember. The little girl who tries to run the library at night too. It's-- it's terrifying, how little there is here, where there should be more.