August Event

[adsum]

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Please let August be better than July I'm begging

✽ Due to 10+ classes raising their ranks last month, ALL characters have access to the courtyard via the door in the locker area and the windows facing the courtyard.
✽ Characters with 1-10 tallies are not able to get any further past the end of the courtyard before they fall unconscious; characters with 10-20 can get halfway to the pool building before the same happens to them; characters with 20+ tallies can reach the pool building but unfortunately, the door is on the other side. There are no windows on the walls, but from the clocktower, characters can see that it has a glass ceiling, though they are unable to see inside.
✽ Outside, there is no breeze, and it occasionally rains ash.
✽ Characters going up to the 4th floor will feel that the door is warm to the touch, and will occasionally open (see: missions)
✽ The student store opens, with the door propped open with a doorstopper. The npc running the store is currently not interested in conversation, but may be available for threading in the future and is available for threading in the toplevel below. Please see the updated bonus activity page for more information.
✽ Posted on the bulletin board and also handed to each club president before break is the notice that proof of club activity is due at the end of break. Please submit these proofs in the toplevel below.
✽ There is another ad on the bulletin board advertising an exchange student program for the month of October. Applications will be taken until the end of August, and there is a 300 merit point fee. Sister cities include Death City, Devildom, Ishigami Village, Lanling, LazyTown, and Maiami City.

Comments

[adsum]

[ can't believe Komaeda bought their lore for like 3 yen

anyway, there's one mark on the inside of their left wrist ]

[commences]

How did you get it?

( they're bonding, plus spending 3 yen. he still didn't give up the yen yet, he's just finding things to mess around on npc-kun! they're an arata... and their fate is sealed... to be bothered by a komaeda. sighs.

just like how aiko dies every reset. )

[adsum]

[ ...

There is no answer, and npc-kun keeps their hand out, expectant. Pay for every word that comes out of their mouth. ]

[commences]

P-kun? How did you get it?

( akki has their ways, rokkun has their weirder ways, counselor has no more... but npc-kun has... one.

he'll lightly trace his index finger along the line of it, and he'll tap after. )

I know you want money.

[adsum]

[ If he knows that, then he should be offering it, even though npc-kun casts their eyes down— not to look at the scar, but down at their feet, pulling their hand back. The cost of telling... the cost of admitting...

... ]

[commences]

( the air feels thick, yet komaeda doesn't pull away from his question. he's running through his mind of how should he ask, and if paying for that sort of information is how this should go. these tallies symbolize something, at the start of him when he gained his own through a murder, but there are some that are different.

...

he pauses, allowing the other to take back their hand. in return, komaeda flips his arm, wrist-side up, and his fingers uncurl to offer the few coins that the other wanted. it's not for payment, but more like comfort, or whatever type of solace the other can find. greedy, but simple, almost like how komaeda opens a book to calm his nerves, and he finds that npc-kun is more excitable as long as currency is involved. )

?

( besides, he doubts exchanging information about his own tally is worth much to the other. )

[adsum]

[ ...Yeah they take the coins. But it's a slow reach over instead of snatching them up, and their lips remain pressed together, eyes downcast again after that brief glance up at the money.

...

... ]

Tell me why it matters to you.

[commences]

( komaeda would have said different in his youth, but he's older now, he's not like how he was when he was younger. he has seen the sort of hope that's brewed from an ultimate and someone who lacks talent, and maybe he's curious. could it be because this is rokkun's sibling and he feels obligated because they're idiots, or is it from his time of watching after troublesome kids. who knows. )

...I caught you, when you almost fell.

( is that an answer, but he continues. )

I want to understand as much as you want to.

( it's a difficult thing, considering komaeda understands no one. )

[adsum]

[ It's not an answer, it feels more like Komaeda saying that they owe him— did they say thank you for catching them? They can't remember.

... ]

It doesn't matter if nobody understands me. That won't change what I'm doing. It happened because I... [ ... ] ...because of me... [ ... ] ...it's a mark of my sin. But I had to do it.

[commences]

( he didn't even think of it as owing, but trying to understand... sadly talking to people normally is rough too. whatever it is, npc-kun seems to open up about it, and the first things they say... he can relate to it.

not being understood means a lot to them, it's almost like they can keep their guard up. mysterious and such. )

What sort of sin was it?

( he asks, wondering if it's like his own. to be honest, komaeda may not find anything wrong with it knowing him. to call it a sin, to say they had to do it, and he wonders why they see it as a bad thing.

sounds like story time, so he'll get down on his knees, and crosses his arms on the counter. at least he's looking up at them. )

[adsum]

An unforgiveable one.

[ As hard as it is to talk about it, there is no regret in their voice. If they had the choice to do it all over, they think they might have chosen the same.

... ]

I don't want to talk about it. You said you wouldn't do anything that makes me uncomfortable.

[commences]

If I'm doing something to you, I don't think it's uncomfortable at all!

( he thinks, and he wonders, but he sighs softly as if disappointed in the reply. do people really feel this way about their tallies, not wanting to talk about them? komaeda looks at his own, a few of them he doesn't remember, and he cherishes the recent one because of the hope it brought. )

Think of that situation as a stepping stone, what needed to be done, because now you have customers who are willing to pay the price.

( a stroke of good luck for whatever unfortunate bad luck they went through, and komaeda smiles about it. )

Do you have a name associated with it?

( why this sound like... they killed... you know who... )

[adsum]

[ they... you know what... to you know who... ]

You're wrong. I am uncomfortable. [ Komaeda doesn't get to decide how they feel? please

... ]

But you're right that this is why I'm here.

[ There's no name though. Who names these things? """the Gateway""" Only people with bad taste. ]

[commences]

( you tell MEEEE, oh i'm crying. )

Either you killed, died, or did it to yourself... I doubt the third option.

( when has komaeda ever thought of other people's feelings and respected them like human beings, never. )

Money buys happiness, but what did you do to come to that mindset... is it because of that mark? I'm listening...

( he was trying to be cute when he called it the gateway, it's fine, komaeda knows better than to listen to him anymore. )

Tell me, tell me, tell me... who did you kill!

( excited 😊 )

[adsum]

[ Why did anybody ever listen to a word that came out of Rokkun's mouth

... ]

Not telling! If it's something you really want to hear, give me what I really want! If you don't actually care about it, then leave me alone!

[commences]

( don't worry, everyone is starting to realize that rokkun is just insane.

and that he acts out for attention. )

I'll shop here every day, because that's what you want? A returning customer.

( not like npc-kun's friends care. )

[adsum]

[ What friends ]

Something more than that! Guess again!

[commences]

An Ultimate?

( well, nothing's wrong with a guessing game. )

Is that what Young Arata-kun wants? Me too!

( his hands clap together as he learns they have something in common, he doesnt think he's wrong either. who wouldn't want an ultimate? )

[adsum]

An Ultimate?

[ An ultimate what... He can't just leave off on an adjective ]

[commences]

It's something you can't have, but they're revered, and wanted by many...

( he sighs wistfully, his cheeks are dusted pink just a bit. they're good, ultimates are good! )

I can have an Ultimate shop here, if you want... Amami-kun, Ishimaru-kun, Saihara-kun... but only one.

( he doesn't like to share them if he doesn't have to. besides, hope is all he has, and that's what they give by existing. )

[adsum]

[ An Ultimate... It's a person he's talking about, npc-kun realizes. People. Idols? The publicity would help their little shop... ]

That's... not what I want either. That's not enough.

[commences]

Hmmm... Hope! It would do you good, to have something like that would be able to carry you towards the future.

( he sighs, nodding to himself, to have hope is all anyone even needs. that's how komaeda lives, why he's able to smile, and keep up his positive attitude. )

Even if you're alone in the world, hope will always cover you in its radiance.

( that vibrant light so nothing feels dark anymore, to know there's still a chance of seeing every step before them... hope is such a beautiful concept, especially when many people can thrive in it together. his eyes fall upon npc-kun, looking through them, not even realizing they're there until he can feel a warm liquid run down the corner of his mouth, and immediately he raises one hand to wipe it away.

...

he shallows. )

...W- What do you want?

[adsum]

[ ... ... ... ]

Oh.

[ They look away from Komaeda for a moment, and then looks back up at him, hesitant, gears churning. ]

Hope...

[ The way Komaeda speaks about hope... What he means by it...

... ]

I want to meet Hope.

[commences]

( they want to meet hope, and that is more than enough to make komaeda's heart skip a beat. a sensitive subject that he knows all too well, because he too wanted to be useful to Hope, to find the concept he admires so much.

all of his problems slipped away, no longer holding him down (or so he thinks), and to share that feeling of warmth and accomplishment. )

Everyone gets the chance to relish in extravagant Hope.

( he stands up properly as he looks at the surface of the counter, and once again he's pulling himself up to sit on top. he leaves room for npc-kun if they so wish to do the same, but komaeda sits with his legs dangling like an excited child. )

Hope forgives you for all your sins, and some you realize weren't even sins at all! Can you accept the possibility that your previous actions weren't a sin or unforgivable. Overcoming such things is important to meeting Hope, using your past endeavors to strengthen yourself now.

( npc-kun is no ultimate, they have no talent that equates to the greats. but they can learn and acquire some, at least enough to satisfy them by birthing it for others. )

[adsum]

[ Everybody gets the chance, maybe, but they have to wonder if it's still something possible for them, or if they've squandered it already.

...

They go ahead and sits on top of the counter next to Komaeda, ankles crossed and hands loose on their lap. ]

That would be nice... if my sin wasn't a sin. If I could forgive myself for doing what I did. Is it okay? Is everything that happened supposed to happen, for the greater good?