yogen | MISSION 2.C

( The lights making him feel cold and numb reminds him a little of Haruka, the way she'd felt holding onto his hand—it didn't make him sleepy, didn't make him need to shake his head in annoyance every time he wants to yawn, but. A little similar.

But Hinata dropping after he touches the remnants of the gorinto is enough to shake him from any sleepiness, and he takes a step—pauses, glancing at Komaeda... then completes his movement, just a few steps to kneel by him to make sure he isn't dead or anything. Dead weight, fine, but dead? No good.

...he isn't going to carry him, sorry Hinata, but once he's made sure he's okay— )

He's just unconSCIOUS.

( We're doing just fine, guys. Natsume considers picking up him, considers asking someone to carry him instead, and then settles on the final, hidden third option.

He slaps Hinata across the face. )

Wake UP.

[caught in the jacket, it does slow Helena down by surprising her enough to make her stop and walk back. it's warm, which is a bonus, and she can immediately tell who did this by the scent on the fabric - it's Komaeda. while he could have simply called out to stop her, now she's bundled, and pausing as she's turning around while still in the fabric. surely he must be cold and he'll take it back soon, so it's best to enjoy it while it's there.

the sound of Hinata's body hitting the ground is startling, but with Natsume's words, she can take a breath. just unconscious - that means he can get up soon.]

If Mr. Hinata doesn't wake, should we try to carry him with us?

[carry him, drag him, same thing considering the collective strength of two twinks and Helena.]

Waste of strength, Sakasaki-kun.

( that works too, but since natsume was the wrong to go over and proceed to slap him to keep him unconscious. alright, what to do, what to do... he hums as he looks towards helena, then back to natsume. )

If your arms get tired, you'll only drop him along the way.

( he'll walk over to them both, leaving his jacket with helena as he reaches for the device in hinata's hand, making sure to avoid touching the gorinto. we don't need two people unconscious, now do we? since there's nothing hinata can do with a hacking gun right now.

anyway, a shame they can't take it wi — if komaeda takes the bag hinata had with him, can he scoop up the gorinto without touching it? you never know when it'd come in handy. pushing them in with the head of the hacking gun, and if he's successful, can he zip the bag up, and lay it in hinata's arms... emotional support rocks. )

[ There is a whole bunch of tree pressing down on that gorinto, so it would take several efforts of kicking it in in order to dislodge and hope the stones don't roll too far away to the other side. But they can do it. If they want.

Hinata may or may not wake up, depending on when Yama tags back in. ]

[is unconscious]

( why are you all this way )

Komaeda-san, please stop making things more diffiCULT. At least I'm trying to make things easier for US. ( because if hinata woke up then no one would have to carry him.

Speaking of that, I'm not rescinding my tag, Natsume's getting up and moving away. ) Someone's going to have to drag HIM. I wouldn't want to burden Adams-san with IT, and I'm fully aware I can't do it on my OWN... but Komaeda-san is too freakishly tall for the both of us to carry Hinata-kun comfortaBLY.

( ....... )

AnyWAY, grab him and start pulLING, Komaeda-san. You two are friends, aren't YOU? He's your responsibiliTY.

[this is a TEAM EFFORT we are not leaving anyone behind

anyway, since Komaeda is being nice enough to leave his jacket, Helena gets herself situated in it, shoving the sleeves up to make it all work out, she comes over to Hinata's body, crouching down to pick up one of his wrists.]

Don't worry, Mr. Sakasaki. There's no burden. If we each take one of his arms, and Mr. Komaeda takes his legs, we won't have to go to so much effort to carry him with us.

[be nice or she's summoning the bear again. somehow.]

( yeah, komaeda will do what he can to get those rocks into the bag, but they can't leave them on hinata or they'd just press down on his body, so komaeda will lift the bag, and tosses it towards natsume — rocky side first to bruise him on purpose. hope it hits, roll for initiative perhaps.

a team effort is right, and komaeda couldn't leave hinata behind if he tried... somehow he's always there, anyway. there are things that come to mind at this moment, leftover thoughts, and he sighs as he looks towards helena. )

Sakasaki-kun said it himself, he's my responsibility... this isn't the first time he's been left to me.

( it's a kind gesture from helena, but komaeda motions closer to slip one arm behind hinata's back, and the other finds a place under his thigh to pick him up bridal style, and he's compensating for his mechanical arm to do most of the work. it's fine, komaeda's someone who does things alone anyway, so this should be no different. he attempts to stand up properly, his body knees buckling at times to bring him back down... but he manages to stand up tall! and he makes sure the other is settled into place where he won't drop... god, he needs to let go of some of this breast fat because komaeda going to drop his ass sooner or later. )

We... should keep going.

( natsume rolls a 17 with a 2 modifier on his (dex) acrobatics check, making it a 19, so he steps out of the way of the bag easily... he still stops to stare down at it, then look up at the sky and wonder about the consequences of his actions if he just lobs it back at komaeda...

he picks it up and pulls it over his shoulder instead, sigh, why are we stealing rocks. he's tempted to throw them into the crosses, but time's a wasting, and he's curious about the path anyway. moving a little along... to the edge there, pausing at it to peer down into the darkness. )

...Unless we want to go backwards up the wall aGAIN, we're going to have to take a leap of FAITH. On the plus SIDE, this means Komaeda-san doesn't have to struggle with dead weight for more than a couple more minUTES.

( ..................yeah he's just saying we could throw hinata off the edge of the cliff. so what? they're going that way anyway right? it's fine. )

I'm not fond of going back to the WOODS, considering their danger leVEL, but I dislike the idea of jumping off of HERE, especially when we can't see what's in store for US.

[talking is talking, and they're still walking along the path, dealing with the little spirit lights occasionally touching, but the edge is coming up at the end of the dirt road. the cliff's edge, where Helena stops, her grip on her cane as tight as she can get away with. it's vast, from what she can tell - nothing else to step out on, and her other hand holds the jacket closer.]

Is there really nothing else...?

[as eerie as this place is, she's never taken a leap where she didn't know there was ground to land on. never anything like this, and even her composure slips for a second.]

What do you think of her inquiry, Hinata-kun?

( radio silence because ... )

He has no reservations.

( at the moment, komaeda's setting his body down on the ground because he's getting tired. after carrying natsume on his back, now hinata at his front... the whole komaeda has done enough. he takes moment to get himself together as he looks back and forth between natsume and then helena, helena and then hinata, then natsume and hinata.

he stares at helena for a moment, watching as she swadloon's herself in his jacket, the tail of it dragging against the ground. clapping his hands together, he smiles excitedly as he walks over to natsume, his mechanical hand on the youth's shoulder from behind. )

Sakasaki-kun, let me give you a hand. ( with that said, he's going to shove natsume roughly off the edge of the cliff — )

( —and off he goes, taking the bag of rocks with him with a shout. )

[ Natsume is swallowed by the void.

...

...

...

Who's next? ]

( one.

... )

Adams-san, do you know what hope is? It's a beautiful thing, the stuff of dreams... something that people believes doesn't exist... but it does.

( it's such a beautiful thing, and to witness natsume's descent is just the start. komaeda's heart skips a beat, and he can feel a burning sensation creep along the bridge of his nose. the corner of his lips raising into a smile, something warm and wet finding their way down his cheeks until it drips onto the ground where he stands. he appears pleased, happy about this turn of events as he turns towards helena — )

By overcoming the unknown, hope can be born...

( hope is manifested by any cause, as long as komaeda believes it so. it's best this way, after all, if they defeat the despair, or wherever the abyss leads, and natsume was right... falling had brought them here — so where would that go? )

Those that lack talent are capable of brewing a miniscule amount, but they need a little push. Sakasaki-kun's hope... ( his organic hand rests in front of his chest, a few tears dripping into the palm before placing that same hand on his hip. ) He called it a leap of faith... ahaha! Isn't that grand, I want to see your "faith" too! Will you show me it, will you?

( he takes one step closer to her, his eyes slowly parting, and spirals swirls within them. that cruel mix of hope and despair, his own brand of insanity that keeps him mentally going. )

Will you?

[part of her doesn't know what just happened. that Natsume was shoved - it's a possibility, but it also isn't, when she doesn't want to think that would have occurred. he could have yelled from the trip down itself. whatever's happening, it was abrupt, and she isn't sure how to feel about it. for that moment, Helena simply stands there, hearing Komaeda's words and feeling as though she's on the verge of falling herself.

hope. however he's phrasing it, it's something she knows very well. it's what puts one foot in front of the other after failing yet again, after dying in another way. despite any opposition, despite the hurdles that life threw one after another. her limitations, the manor, this school - she has to be determined, has to push forward to something better. it's what keeps her steady here, the idea that even in this place, one can keep fighting.

faith and resolution. the conviction that no matter what it takes, no matter how much she has to go through, there is an exit - that she and the others will live. they have to fight to live. they have to try, no matter how tough it is. this she knows, this she believes in. no matter how hard her heart is hammering in trepidation. no matter how this unknown needed a quite literal leap. back straightened up, and a deep breath to set it all back to rights.

Helena Adams has hope in abundance. tempered and restrained by common sense and the inability to forget fear, but it is there.]

...I'll show you my faith. In exchange, please do the same for me.

[because they are all in this, for better or for worse. she does her best to smile, so he knows she's sincere, before she turns to the cliff and swallows to steady herself. one jump, and a descent into open space, following the lights on their journey.

...

Helena is swallowed by the void.]

( hope is... hope, and hope is all that komaeda has to give the hopeless people around him — those he must associate with so that no ultimate is bothered. he has to place himself between them to ensure such talented people are sullied by the actions of those who lack it. he wants to protect them, but because of his own miniscule talent, ultimates should also be protected from him, and he would understand these group of people better. that's why he's willing to see what sort of hope they can make if their own body rings hollow from their lack of talent.

natsume said he was special back home, worried about the people back home being inflicted with the curse that he's been weighed down with. those fretting worries over sora that he didn't want to leave behind, a weak moment for him, and yet he probably to ensure that he goes back home to that person. he wonders if that's his hope, what would be considered their hope...

as for helena, she's new to this group, her own vision crippled by unknown means, and he knows nothing about her. he doesn't know where to start, and throwing her off the side of the edge seems like good as any — natsume was kind to stand to the side, and if he could just lead her despite the grin on his face, but she plays by her own rules. to call it faith is just a longer version of what komaeda adores to say so much, so this one is catered for natsume. she can even smile a the moment he parts his mouth to speak his own thoughts, he's fed appropriately by the female jumping off into the void herself. )

...Did you see her smile, I wonder if she truly understands.

( that's stronger than most worthless humans, but maybe something lies beyond it, just wait for them natsume... they're coming, hope is only properly created as long as the group sticks together. now, as he looks towards his unconscious body, he appears to have calmed down — blinked out the unnerving spirals, doesn't even recall his immediate switch into something undesirable. to him, it played out like helena just wanted to grasp hope by her own hands. )

...I thought you understood too, but I'm just that unlucky. You've left too many times.

( he's not the person he woke up to in the beginning, he's not the person he woke up to that unfaithful morning, and now they're at this standstill where hinata is... he sighs, walking towards the body as he squats down before it. his hands pressed against the side to assist in slowly rolling him closer to the edge. )

To the Hinata-kun, who bloomed with so much talent that it spilled over the brim...

( so like his body, must it follow suit despite lacking any at all.

ok i think yama said she wanted to reply with sumn, so good luck. )

[Is it luck that causes it? Or simply the sound of his voice again?

But it happens fast - from one second to the next, Hinata wakes.

He doesn't have time to really process what happened to him, if he even has any recollection of it at all. Hinata simply registers the face hovering above him; the face that he's woken up to three times now, in his memory, and that has filled him with an inexplicable calm now every time. So even if he doesn't quite make sense of the words he just heard, he reaches up...]

Komaeda, what did you just...

[...and gently grabs hold, tugging just a bit.

But Hinata is on the edge. And he's holding Komaeda, pulling him towards him.

So when his hand reaches out to his other side to push off of the ground, the only thing Hinata does is send them both rolling over the side.

He has just enough time to yell desperately, perhaps even shout a name, before they both plunge into the darkness below.]

[ They fall and they fall and they fall, darkness spread out around them as far as the eye can see, the stream of light also spreading out like mist at the end of a waterfall. A minute passes. Two. Twenty. Two hundred. And they're still falling, as if they were back in the void but there is no ground to stand on, no voice that comes out of their mouths, no sound at all. Just them. Darkness. A field of stars.

The endless sensation of falling, weightless. ]

MISSION 2.C

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sighs

covers your eyes

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not how I got passed a layup again

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