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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.

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( maybe they can have the double ultimate talent... just this once!

that's too much movement behind him, and he's a little disheartened. normally he's the one laying on top of someone, not willing to move until he gets what he wants. to be on the opposite side is new territory, and he's quiet for the first half as he listens to the other. )

That's a good thing you didn't expect it. Now, you can use this to strengthen your resolve for next time, and decide whether you want to be pulled down with me or not.

( this is like taking hope class, he will not apologize. ) As for being mean... didn't the idea of being acknowledged feel nice? ...I thought you were attention starved.

( komaeda's an attention whore... of course he'd like the feeling of it. )

I'm a shopkeeper. I get attention all day.

[ Then again, it's not attention like this, and they don't feel overly familiar with just anyone to be comfortable enough to use them as a mattress-pillow combo.

... ]

Are you lonely?

You have been with me most of the day, and you have used the title of a shopkeeper...

( like he's trying to find the logic in this, and he comes to the conclusion that npc-kun is actually right. as they lay on the floor, komaeda does try to crawl forward, bringing npc-kun along so he can grab one of his notebooks to pry open and set on the floor like someone hiding a phone during a test. it's his personal one, and it has study questions from a class he takes. )

Everyone asks me that... I have hope, so I'm never lonely. If I say yes, does that mean I don't have to apologize?

[ They're still a shopkeeper even if some asshole isn't here to shop!! Why is he crawling forward, npc-kun almost slides off his back and is forced to wrap their arms around him instead in a koala cling, chin propped up on his shoulder so their face is right there next to his and the can be as nosy about that notebook as they wish. ]

Do you like spending time with me?

( in komaeda's notebook... is... what do they learn in their first year? whatever it is, he has it all written down in his ugly handwriting. it's not that bad, just very blocky, but if there's anything that needs to be read aloud... komaeda will do so without being prompted. )

Arata-kun... do you think about good and evil?

( there's ethics written in the top corner, and a question that was posed to him by josh that he needs to properly complete soon. his brow raises at the other's question though, and it's a shame that komaeda doesn't know if he can answer that straight out — it's difficult with the way his luck works, accepting something nice means something bad later on, but if he stockpiles his bad... then he has to be given something good down the line. )

...Would it make you happy to hear what my answer could be to that?

Why are all your answers to my questions, questions?

[ STOP DOING THAT

They never pegged Komaeda to be a good student, but here he is with a notebook full of notes, and what might be an essay question he's asking for homework help from some kid. ]

I'll answer you if you answer me. Give me an honest answer, not one that gets you out of apologies or what would make me happy.

Oh... are they?

( oops! :) haha! it's fine, he's already answered his question to josh, he just has to write it down on paper where it talked about his love for hope, how the bad or evil is people who cling to those with talent, snuffing their abilities, and the absolute good is god and hope. he's a good kid, nothing changes except wanting to murder even more, and having bad memory.

he flips through his notes, something about how mirrors concave or... whatever that one lesson he had once in the third year class. npc-kun is someone with unknown goals, but will apply hope, and komaeda has always been charmed by that. because of his need to view, witness what would be made from their own way of handling it, and he wouldn't want anything to happen to them. that, and he's able to separate them from rokkun, so it's more than npc-kun being his sibling, and more that komaeda does like playing around with them.

admitting would be a weakness, though.

and he's always distanced himself for a reason, most people never ask about his likes and dislikes, and just let him do whatever as long as he didn't cause a problem. it shouldn't be such a big deal, but... ) Are you going to send me away depending on my answer?

( :T )

Would you go away depending on my feelings?

[ He doesn't seem the type, waltzing in here and dragging npc-kun around and doing what he wants without regard to anybody else— there's something admirable about that, living to the beat of your own drum, but at the same time...

...

npc-kun tightens their embrace just slightly, like they don't want to let him go. Because of... his money... yes.

... ]

I'm not very considerate of people's feelings apparently.

( a certain someone has said that about him one too many times, then again, it's probably true. he doesn't understand feelings, but he gets the gist of a person as a character. but he says that with a smile as he flips through another page, there's only so much school stuff he wants to look at. so he'll pick up the book with hinata's name instead, his fingers tracing the kanji slowly as he hums right after. )

I'll visit here every day if I can... ( he sighs softly, how strange. ) it's been awhile since I changed my routine.

( he'll have to because his stuff will be in this room!! where is his key, ori, how does he get his stuff. in a way, he hopes that's enough to answer npc-kun's question, or do they need him to be more straightforward than that. the squeeze motivates him though... npc-kun is like a child, komaeda blinks once... confused, and then: )

You're a part of the life I lead here, now.

Yeah, you're not.

[ Not that npc-kun cares about that anyways. Feelings have no place in business, unless it's something they can use to their advantage. So who's the inconsiderate one here... It's npc-kun, who settles a little more comfortably on Komaeda's back, watching him swap notebooks. His love life diary... ]

...Am I a good part of your life? [ ... ] I want to be. And I want you to be a part of mine too.

[ They don't want him to leave. Maybe they can force it, having Komaeda's things (his junk) stored in... I guess a footlocker, larger than the school lockers and doubling as a footstool when npc-kun is sitting behind the desk and opens with a physical key— Komaeda has one, and npc-kun also has a copy. ]

( for most people that should hurt, for komaeda, he finds himself satisfied with the answer. he's still the same type of person he's always been with his lack of consideration for others. it sounds perfect having npc-kun say it, that sort of thought runs in the family, he believes.

the movement on his back causes him to stop moving, until npc-kun is properly settled. once they are, komaeda weighs his options on the book in front of him, thinking of opening it up until he hears their voice again. )

... ( a good part of his life? it sounds nice, but he knows that he's not allowed that himself. with the way his pendulum swings, it'd only last for so long, and the thought makes him frown. ) You have to live, and never give up on what you want... ( because when that happens, everything about him stops, he's heartless, harsh, and judges for every choice. ) that goal you speak of, the hope that you harbor inside... protect it, but even then... you'll always have this specific place.

( it's tedious to place himself in someone else's life, let alone his own, too many scenarios where things may go wrong, like even now. hearing this. part of it makes him want to distance himself even more, but the truth of the matter is he did this to himself. ) You've always been part of mine if I let someone else tell the story... and maybe it's nicer that way, then it's like we've known each other forever.

( "does your family know me" "no" well! rokkun was already the blueprint in this relationship, so they have him to thank, even though he doesn't know himself. ) ...But you only met me today, am I allowed a place in your life? No one has a choice when it comes to mine, but you do.

( and even then, komaeda doesn't have to follow by those rules, he'd be here next day even if npc-kun kicked him out. #toxicbehavior. )

Isn't it scary, the way you hold onto me like you're afraid to let go... Who is truly fleeting, me or you?

( ... )

[ ... ]

I'm not... going anywhere. [ A quiet voice answers him, small, a little bitter, even as they swallow the hard lump in their throat. They're not the one who is fleeting. It's everybody else— everything else— so much has passed through their hands that the numbers in their bank account are no different than the numbers on Komaeda's wrist, nothing more than a counter of what's been lost. So who could blame them for clinging to what they have, holding on to what they can while they can? For them to have this stupid, stupid, idealistic, impossible goal that they covet because it's one thing nobody can ever take from them?

...It was never blame that came out of Komaeda's mouth. He was optimistic, supportive, confident in his actions and his beliefs and, for lack of a better word, a rock for somebody who has nobody else to return to.

That sort of person is admirable. That sort of person...

... ]

You remind me of somebody I lost. Being around you, my hope will never die. I want you. I'm not scared.

At the end of the year, it'll be the last time I see you, won't it?

( his nails lightly trace the name, this is his way to get his mind off the conversation, but he's still listening — he doesn't want to think too hard, he doesn't want his luck to contemplate where this landslide will go. will it bury him to the point that he suffocates by his own words, will they equally suffer because of his actions? the thought settles in his mind, wondering if he should have reacted differently to everything here, had ended the conversation once he learned he was being scammed via high prices for simple cat treats.

that doesn't make his life difficult, but it's that unfortunate scenarios would be the ones he would get involved with, but he didn't turn away. he indulged without a care because he understands what he can't have, it'll never be his, and so he can go out into those things, and dismiss himself when he needs to. the way he places himself in someone's life is so low, a stepping stone so a person has something to stand on, to move forward, and he accepts that place.

if he could, he'd turn so that his back was on the floor, the two chest to chest, and a hand can rest on npc-kun's back, but he's a little bigger than the children komaeda took care of a long time ago. he can't do that so easily especially with how the other latches onto him like a crutch, attached to the hip, not wanting to let go of what they decided they want. )

I'm not a good person, but I'm sure that person would try to be, want to be, will be... ( he lifts one hand, he can't see, but he hopes that he's able to press his hand on the top of npc-kun's head, bringing them a little closer against his own. almost like he wants to press their heads together, the a simple gesture where komaeda closes his eyes with a smile. ) ...As for your hope, I'll be the judge of that, so it's best not to let me down.

( that's familiar too, "i want you", he's heard it before, this family wants many things they can't have, and komaeda hums in thought. something like him is better taken out with the trash, but this doesn't feel like obtainable, he shouldn't be in this position. )

I'm only with you for as long as you allow me to be, and when that time is up... it being one-sided won't be too bad. ( as he thinks of something, he hums a bit, a small whistle, and then... ) Do you think I'm going to make it, if I remind you of someone?

[ That's true... They're the one who's going to leave at the end of the year, and they have no choice in that matter. So they're going to take what they can get, make the most of what they have, and right now it's this human mattress they bury their face against because Komaeda basically just said "No, I don't actually like you" one-sided, please...

... ]

No, you won't make it either. But it's not your fault. It's just that this is the last year.

( this is how he keeps his luck in check, isn't it wonderful? of course, he'll run his fingers through npc-kun's hair as he stares at the front of the book — it's okay, listen... )

...

( the last year? he won't make it? he doesn't know whether he's disheartened, or feels like a failure, but at the end of the day... that feels right, coming in last place. using what time he has left to support the hopes of others that can move forward, and he should accept his role yet again. it sounds perfect, and he sighs softly. )

What do you mean as the "last year"... so it's only the third years who are meant to see it to the end?

[ Is it really okay? Being told they're hated but still having their head stroked, they're getting mixed signals and maybe they don't want to ask for clarification this time, maybe they should just take what they can get.

... ]

You're talking about graduation, aren't you? That's a third year thing. If you're not a third year, you have no chance from the start.

( they're so insane, maybe they can ask for clarification, maybe they can learn that if npc-kun comes to hate komaeda, then komaeda will... [...]

very complicated to explain, but isn't this honesty in actions. )

That's what you meant by I'm not going to make it, right? ...It's such a shame, aren't the third years lucky... At least I understand that I should do something to give them a better chance.

( maybe he'll plot his own execution, anything for higher chances... it's about the gamble, and he enjoys that more than anything. ) When I don't make it, what will you do? You'll be happy after, even when I'm gone?

[ What would plotting his own execution do except trigger Rokkun Bad End?

The question is something they have to think about, though, because happiness is a momentary thing, something switched on and off at their own whims, not a state of being. ]

That depends on if I reach my goal in time. If I do, I'll be happy. Maybe I'll be able to keep you, too.

( it'd be like sdr2, where he killed himself to help everyone move towards their goal? it'd be for rokkun's benefit too?

there they go again, talking about their hidden goal, the unknown that even komaeda's unsure of. it sounds like a dream when they talk about it, and he wonders if they'll... wake up to the world the other has in mind. )

If it's a maybe, there's no need to be attached to it... take what you're sure you can have, and never let it go.

( he learned that... )

[ how I keep having to parent up to see whether this is the back lying thread or the eye licking thread ]

...So you're mine forever.

[ Him... his money... ]

( how i have to content warn up top to tell them apart, i'm tearing up. )

From the way you hold onto me, it's hard to reject your claim... but isn't there anything I can do to make it? So you don't have to do all the work?

( komaeda doesn't need much direction, but a general idea... because it sounds like this is all on npc-kun's terms... on the other being able to keep him....'s money. )

I wouldn't say no to some cold, hard cash.

[ They do loosen their hold on Komaeda again, though, so they don't accidentally strangle him before they can get their grubby hands on a will. ]

Other than that... It'd be nice if you could get people to shop here. Put in a good work for me: tell everybody I'm a good honest shopkeeper.

[ Lie through your teeth for them ]

CURSED STATS

STOP NPC-KUNS DEFENSE IS RAISED

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Please let August be better than July I'm begging

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