give your friends a surprise

[closewithnewintown]

Who: EVERYONE
What: FAMILY MEETING
When: 8/4, right after school closes.
Where: Student council room
Warnings: Eventually, probably.

["If my friends back home were acting like this, I would've already locked them in a room and forced them to figure out their feelings."

the job puts all of her considerable superspy skills to the test. she knows where every normal kid's locker is; it's easy enough to slip the note into each that morning. if it's someone who she knows would be unable to read the note, she tells them its contents, but keeps her own involvement out of it. lies of omission don't count.

the note reads:]

I have very important information about this place. Please come to the student council room after school ends today.

- Nao Sato

[and if the text looks just a bit girlier than you'd think she'd write, hey, you don't know her. she's got layers.

either way, it's a pretty interesting proposition: the student council room door is, for the first time in seemingly ever, wide open. anyone can walk inside - and, hopefully, most everyone should. because it's only when Stephanie thinks that she's got enough of them inside that she actually enters the room, shutting the door behind her.

click.

it locks. she grins, spins the key on her finger, and slips it into her pocket.

"How are you supposed to do that with grownups?"

the exact same way, she's decided.]

We haven't had any meetings since, um. Well. The last one. But, I'm pretty sure nobody has no more murders to report, so it shouldn't be too bad, and we can all just focus on the most important task: Getting along! All of us are on the same team, but most of us barely even know each other; some of us even hate some of the others! [SHE SAYS, LIKE SHE DOESN'T ACTIVELY DESPISE KOKICHI] So, I figured we could spend the evening fixing that problem. Play some games, talk about stuff we've discovered since the last time...

And, maybe, if everybody does a really good job, I'll unlock the door!

[smiles]

Comments

[mermaidcursed]

I can't help but think this is my fault on some level...? Stephanie-chan and I had been talking about people working together... And she's right on some level, but I don't think this was the best thing to do.

( case in point. rika stabbed two people, rika included. ... puttin that first aid learning to the test already... )

[compendiem]

You had good intentions. Both of you. People won't find fault in that... probably.

[ Probably... The frustration is understandable, though, and Minato who sits with his knees pulled up to his chest to make himself small doesn't seem like the sort of person who would thrive in a packed, bustling room full of people. He doesn't look uncomfortable, though, and it's because when he talks to Nene she's all he can see and all he needs to focus on. ]

Working together isn't something that can be forced. But fighting isn't bad either. My team... fought a lot. We still did, to the end. But overcoming those problems are what brought us closer, even if more problems sprout up afterwards.

[mermaidcursed]

... I think we do a lot worse than fighting, honestly.

( how many murders have there been? even between each other. )

You can't really call yourself a team, I think, if not everyone wants to be on it. And trying to force the issue could cause damage to that, too.

( it's said softly while her fingers curl around the bottom of her chair by her knees, before she looks over to him. )

What did you guys do? You and your team, I mean.

[compendiem]

[ That's true, at least Minato's team didn't kill each other. Ryoji's not part of the team, he doesn't count. ]

I didn't really want to be on it when I first joined... There were times when people didn't want to work with one another either. In the end... we all had the same goal, I guess. So we were able to put differences aside. We came together as a team because we had to... but we weren't friends.

[ He sounds regretful of that, but it is how it is. Even family members— especially family, sometimes— don't always get along. It would be nice if everybody here became friends, but it's okay too if they aren't. ]

[mermaidcursed]

You can't always expect a team to be friends- maybe on good terms? Or just mature enough to work past things.

( but maybe it'd help- but she doesn't say that, not when he's clearly mournful. and not when she feels so naive, having thought for so long that none of them would ever hurt each other when they're victims together. after all, that staunch refusal had gotten her through one messy cage... and then komaeda and natsume came forward, and she was basically unresponsive for a full month outside of rare instances and forcing herself to function. (thanks hanako-kun for keeping her from walking into walls 98% of the time--) )

... Have you been doing okay here, though?

[compendiem]

[ He nods a little, but truth be told... he didn't expect his team to be friends, or on good terms, or mature enough to work past things. It's kind of miraculous that they made it as far as they did, and Minato's brand of leadership didn't help. ]

I'm okay.

[ He's always okay. Never scared, never worried, never angry, like he doesn't know how. ]

Not really sure what I'm supposed to do, but... watching people has been interesting.

[ mentally gestures at this fam meeting ]

[mermaidcursed]

I'm not either, to be honest.

( it doesn't help that she just... isn't sure that she's helping. that she's smart enough or kind enough or brave enough to help the others, help her friends- at home she calls for help, and she feels like an ultra glorified damsel.

it's kind of a miracle, she thinks, that she survived this long. the claw marks on her arms and legs sting a little. )

I think... even between searching for answers, it's important to just find things that make it all worth while though. Something to smile about. So... what kind of things do you like?