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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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ No... don't crouch next to them and try to look at them when they're trying to hide. All that does is make npc-kun bury their face in their arms and squeeze their eyes shut tight because if the tears don't fall it doesn't count as crying, if they hold their breath they don't be betrayed by sobs.

It's not Amami's fault, they know this. But if they don't direct their rage and grief somewhere, they feel like they're going to explode. ]

...I know. I believe you...

[ That he wouldn't lie if he could help it, that he keeps his promises if he could help it. But sometimes... you can't. Sometimes you're told "I'll be right back" and then you don't see somebody for days— and days later you're told they fell off a cliff and won't be coming back- and you're three and you're powerless and even if you did run after them, what could you have done? ...They're not three anymore, but they felt just as powerless. They scoured the whole school, but what good did that do. ]

But sometimes, you can't help it. Something happens and you—- and I don't...

[ They lift their head a little, peeking out of the corner of their eye at Amami, then looks back down at the darkness between their arms. ]

I didn't know what I'd do if I lost you too.

( the little peek is a critical hit. a surge of guilt prickles under his skin, presses down on his ribs, and he makes an effort to breathe all of it out in a small huff. )

I'd like it if you guys had a little more faith in me.

( it's not the first time he's gone over this, and he's not crazy about this assumption like he'll be taken out of the picture so easily. he sounds a bit sheepish too, like he's not sure if he should laugh along at the suggestion or not. can't be helped. amami's got nervous smiling syndrome.

he'll quit with the crouching though, letting himself properly sit on the ground. or, semi-properly, with one leg stretched out, and the other folded under him like he's halfway to crossing his legs. it's fine. the important part is that he's able to lean over, wrapping his arms around kamo-kun so that he can try to tug them closer — topple them over onto him, if he has to — mumbling something like "c'mere," under his breath in hopes that they'll humour him. he can't try too hard if they don't cooperate, after all; been a while since he's had the opportunity to show this kind of affection. it makes him feel kind of vulnerable, even as a smile tugs faintly at the corners of his lips. )

...You won't. ( lose him, he means. )

It might take me a while to find my way back here and there, but I've got someone waiting for me, don't I? So I can't very well leave you alone.

( looks at his canon. looks at his wrist. he thinks he might've earned a little bit of hubris. as a treat. )

[ Don't ever show npc-kun that extra tally, they'll go ballistic

Faith is a lot easier to have when the person is there right beside you, though, saying it and putting it into words instead of leaving the thoughts to churn around in your head. It doesn't take much coaxing at all for npc-kun to lean against Amami, to settle against his side and wrap their arms around him too and give him a hug; it's the sort of hug that starts with a squeeze so he'll know just how much they missed him, and it's the sort of hug that they don't pull away from until they feel good and ready, instead choosing to make themselves comfortable in the embrace. ]

...Okay.

[ ... ]

Were you okay?

( they won't see it today and that is a promise.

there's some relief as they accept his words though, perfectly happy to sit on the ground in the middle of the shop if that helps them to feel better. it makes him feel a little better too, actually. but he'll give a thoughtful hum as the thinks over the question, which is actually kind of subjective. it depends on your definition of "okay," kind of? but that's hardly something he's going to tell them. little white lies like this have yet to betray him, so he'll keep it simple. )

Well I did make it back in one piece, didn't I?

( it was a long night, but if you forget about the kinda-sorta patched up arm(?) then he's no worse for wear from when they last saw him! )

Oh, I was pretty tired though. Passed out as soon as I got back, and after I woke up, I came here pretty much first thing.

[ ...

npc-kun leans back from the hug and looks Amami up and down, just to be 100% sure he isn't missing any limbs or has had half his stomach gouged out by some wild beast or anything like that. One piece doesn't mean a whole piece, necessarily, but as far as they can tell...

... ]

Where did you go for so long?

...

( oh, okay, he hadn't really prepared for that one. should have, probably, but didn't. hadn't expected twenty fucking days worth of upset kamo-kun he had to explain himself to, and the pause is probably more than noticeable before he speaks up again. )

There was something I needed to check on. I was never far though — can't really leave campus, after all.

"Never far"...

[ but didn't come see npc-kun... okay... they see how it is ]

Lying by omission is still lying. Tell me what happened. Believe that I believe in you.

Sorry, it's just that usually when we talk about this stuff, we get looked at like we're crazy.

( being in trouble isn't a great alternative, but then again, neither is letting kamo-kun know about the things he's been getting into that are more than a little bit dangerous. )

We went to talk with someone. I was in the courtyard pretty much the whole time, but even if I might've stayed behind a bit longer than the others, I didn't think it would be that long.

( ... )

... How long was it?

[ npc-kun has a great poker face as long as they're staring out into the far distance, but that doesn't stop them from thinking Amami's a little crazy. What conversation lasts that long? And there's no way they would have missed seeing Amami for all the running around they did on campus.

... ]

Three weeks. I waited for you for three weeks.

( ... )

Oh.

( obviously, he did not expect that. sounds like it's a good thing he gave the tree to them for babysitting before that night. )

I guess I kinda deserved to have a rock thrown at me in that case, huh?

[ is he doing that reflexive smiling thing, he deserves to have a knife thrown at him ]

Yes, you did.

[ ... ]

Do you still remember what you promised me we'd do after you get back?

( he absolutely is. and he does, yeah. it gets worse when they agree that he deserved it. )

I remember. Zebras, manta rays, and raccoons, right?

( he had a note in his locker and everything. )

Did you save the stuff for me, or do we need to make a trip to the art room first?

[ Hm. Well... they suppose they can forgive him for that nervous habit, because it does visibly surprise them that he remembers— that he was paying attention in the first place, and thought it important enough to remember. ]

I kept some of it, but... Since there's nobody using the art room right now, let's work in there. Then we can use more than just crayon.

Alright, let's go.

( he's not arguing with that. maybe he'll feel a little bit less... five, if he's not scribbling out ugly animals using crayon. in any case, he pushes himself up off the ground, offering a hand to help kamo-kun do the same once he's back on his feet. )

You'll have to show me how to use the materials properly though. Like I said, I don't do this kind of thing too often.

( or ever. it's fine. )

[ They take Amami's hand and with a little "hup!" gets back onto their feet, stretches their arms above their head for a second, and lets their arms drop like dead weight. Whew, emotions are exhausting. But they feel a lot better now, and smile for Amami as they step out the door, waiting to make sure he closes the door behind him before leading the way to the stairs. ]

There's no wrong way to create art! You can dip colored pencils in water, you can flick salt on paint, you can use your fingers to blend, it's all okay!

[ Kids never have this problem, Amami needs to be more five ]

( amami gives a kind of lingering glance to the counter when kamo-kun starts wandering over to the door, but it's fine. this is more important, so he'll follow along with his own smile while they lead the way to the art room. )

You think so? In that case, I guess we'll see what works.

( sighs these posters are going to be so goddamn ugly. )

[ They'll never say it to Amami's face but they actually chose an anglerfish the first time bc they're already ugly so Amami's ugly drawings will just be accurate or something, it was supposed to boost his confidence

Manta rays, though... Cute. They'll just have to teach Amami how to draw, after they finish half the posters with Amami's ugly art.

npc-kun unceremoniously opens the door to the art room, gives a little dip of the head at the gorinto— Chiaki's gorinto— sitting on the windowsill next to her preferred seat, and goes over to one of the storage closets in the back and pulls out one of the large sketchpads and opens it.

...

Closes it.

Silently hands it over to Amami.

Here... he can use this one. ]

( confidence is debatable, but the laughter was certainly motivation enough to keep trying, so listen. it was still a success.

for now, amami follows their lead, including the head dip, and watches as they flip through a sketchbook. peeking over their shoulder, he gets... a glance at what's already in it, but his expression doesn't really change even as they hand it over, the same smile plastered over it.

maybe... he really can be an artist, damn.

give him a minute to... try to flip to a blank page here. )

What do you think would be easy for me to start with? Pencil? Marker?

[ ...It's impressive, the way the smile doesn't even waver when they know he saw the same thing they did. On this day, npc-kun thinks to themselves: "Tarou-nii is a real adult. I want to be like him when I grow up."

...

Once they find a brand new sketchbook with no creepy drawings inside, npc-kun separates a page and lays it flat on the floor, goes to a different supply closet and returns with some brushes stuck in their pocket and a box they have to lug over with some effort and set on the ground with a thud. ]

Acrylics!

[ Easy mode is paint ]

With paint, you don't have to worry about coloring inside the lines, because there are no lines. If you're a messy painter, even better, because it adds textures to the piece. And if you don't like how something turns out, you can just paint over it and it adds depth. It's very forgiving!

( ooh cute, they really know their stuff, huh? he's proud of them for that! not to mention that together with some of the pieces in this sketchbook, those reasons really are pretty encouraging. if those are art, and literally anything you do with the paint will add "depth" and "texture," they must really be onto something with this whole "anybody can be an artist" thing.

anyway, amami's gonna crouch down and start digging through the box they've gone through all that trouble to bring out. what's in here? paint? amami wants pink and blue... he'll eye the greens a little bit, too. )

You think so? I would've thought paint would be harder, but I guess that just goes to show how much I know. When you put it like that it sounds like I'll be able to create a masterpiece.

( a mess that's been painted over 20 times and still has a wobbly outline that's difficult to identify as anything beyond "creature"? it's just.... abstract. that's all. )

[ Anybody can be an artist is something they'll defend with all their life. One day they'll introduce Amami to the works of Yves Klein and there would be no more doubt.

npc-kun flops onto their stomach with their paper in front of them, never mind the wonky perspective this is going to cause, and watches Amami sift through the paints to have his first pick. There is nothing red or red-adjacent, but there is plenty of light oranges and bright blues and every other color. ]

It's going to advertise my shop, so it has to be! [ only the best!! ] I asked you because I know you can do it!

[ just look at this ...bioluminescent sea slug... they're trying to think of what animal on their list is green but maybe Amami's just starting with the manta ray's friends ]

( listen, yves klein was just preparing for the yogen art wars. when you have no reds, you adapt and overcome. )

Haha, yeah. I can't let you down if it's that important, so I'm gonna do my best.

( the best... his best... probably interchangeable. his smile is bright either way, though his brows scrunch together a moment later as he keeps digging through the box.

mumbles something or another about someone taking all the reds because apparently "science and art clubs collab on blood paintings" was something that was missed when catching him up on the plot, but anyway... he's going to aim for the reddest-orange he can find, which may not actually end up being the peach he's aiming for or even very red at all, but at least he'll have tried. need some white too, probably. it's fine, he knows what he's doing — shiny english raccoon.

hopefully there's a palette or something with paint already on it he can grab too, so when he sits down on the floor next to them, he can start pouring out generous amounts of each colour to start. )

I think I've got a pretty good idea for zebras, but do you wanna draw me a raccoon and a manta ray? I probably couldn't get the details right on them from memory.

[ looking forward to Amami's acid trip excuse for animals

npc-kun has full confidence in him, though, and didn't expect anything too detailed anyways, acrylics aren't really great for that, especially with the globs of paint Amami believes he's going to need. ]

Are you good at zebras? Zebras are harder than the others— they have those backwards knees and everything.

[ Racoons are just a blob with stripes. Manta rays are just a blob with a tail.

But they do provide reference, dipping their finger into Amami's dark blue and tracing out a raccoon and manta ray. ]

( oh, perfect. if they're finger painting, amami will lean over and snag one of those brushes from their pocket while they're busy. )

Zebras are easy to remember the pattern for. They're just horses with stripes.

( remember the stripes and you can make it look like a zebra. forget which part of the raccoon to put the stripes on and probably not that many people will know exactly what it is. a lemur, maybe?

not that the orange blob he starts putting onto the paper is much better, mind you, but the reference helps. )

[ npc-kun glances over at Amami's work and thinks to themselves "wow, that's a funky zebra" excited to see how he's going to pull it off ]

They have a bristle mane, though, and their tails aren't long and pretty like horses are. They're a bit stockier, and the ears are more floppy than pointy—-

[ wait, this whole thing was supposed to bolster Amami's confidence, not tear it to shreds ]

But it looking like a horse is the most important part! It's impressive. Most people don't get the knees right.

Please let August be better than July I'm begging

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