yogen | when the bubblegum pops

Entry tags:

mo dao zu shi: meng yao

when the bubblegum pops

Who: Rantarou Amami & you

What: September catch-all

When: September & some backdates

Where: Various locations

Warnings: TBA

01.) the world lights at your smile
•　open — 08/27-31, around the school

( it's true that, the morning after he opens his eyes in the courtyard once more, amami doesn't waste any time on checking up on the people he feels like he needs to speak to. at the same time, it's a pretty short list, and half of them are gone. how much of a difference does it really make if he comes back one week or the next anyway? if he doesn't go out of his way to find someone though, it's still entirely possible to see him around the school — borrowing a sketchbook from the art room, taking some notes in the music room, or moving what seems to be an obscene amount of money into his locker. noticing the presence of anyone he hasn't seen in a while, he'll offer a wave and a warm smile in the midst of whatever he's doing.

on the 27th in particular, he can be found rummaging through a locker that some might recognize is clearly not his. the first twenty minutes or so are spent haphazardly scribbling notes down from a series of stickies pinned up against the locker door. the remainder of the time is spent picking out belongings from the locker one-by-one to take a look at before he decides whether he should drop them into a backpack that's half-slung over his shoulder. to his credit, he doesn't seem to be interested in too much of it, putting the majority back in after a cursory glance, but it's entirely possible that it could stand out to someone familiar with locker 097. )

02.) and shines at the sound of your laugh
•　open — anywhere, any time

( have an idea? feel free to throw anything else my way, or if you're unsure, you can hit me up via pm or at kagehira! )

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( noah's not doing great. he can tell as much, because he's not doing fantastic himself — for all his failures though, at least kamo-kun is still here. the same can't be said of clamor, or at least not in a physical sense right now. so despite his own tiredness, he watches noah with sincere concern to match that plastered on, apologetic half-smile he wears, and gauges his reaction. )

It's about Clamor.

( he exhales, as if this is intimidating news; he's not quite sure how to go about it, so... maybe being direct is best. )

I know that the two of you were close, so... I thought that there were some things you should know about, if you haven't heard them already.

[...ah. Yes. Noah's expression darkens immediately.]

"Close" is an understatement, [he'll apologise for the snippy tone some other time,] but, yeah, I haven't been told anything and I sure haven't figured out things for myself.

[Like, what he got, he got from the meeting everyone had, but there are pieces that aren't connecting still because no one tells Noah things, as he's learnt the hard way.]

( he winces a bit at the sharp tone, but doesn't speak against it. he... knows how it feels, to lose somebody important to you, and that's in a general sense — never mind the circumstances that surround the way things happened here. but... even so, it's not exactly his place to go labelling things for them. understatement or not, it'd probably have been even more presumptuous of him to act like he really understood how close they were. instead he grimaces, shakes it off to continue. )

Right, well, I'm not sure how helpful I can be, but I at least want to do what I can.

( admittedly, it's not much, but amami's always been more of an active person. feelings are hard, and keeping your body moving and your mind occupied so that you don't fall into a bottomless pit of despair is easy. even now, it's a tactic that amami is using just by being here; maybe it'll work for noah, too. )

I guess I should start at the beginning then. Let's see... If I bring up that night Clamor and a few of us went to meet with Kazuki-san in the courtyard, you should know what I'm talking about, yeah?

...yeah. Clamor and I had a talk about it. He... had an extra tally, I guess, because something must have happened, but at the time he seemed fine. He didn't seem... fake.

[But, really, what does Noah know? He shakes his head.]

But yeah, I know what you're talking about. I heard the story.

Yeah, I did too. I can't say for sure if it's related, but I can't say it's not related somehow either...

Anyway, if he didn't tell you what happened, I guess I can: when we were on the other side, the wisteria tree caused us to fall unconscious, and apparently we pretty nearly became flowers on the branches.

( apparently. it was something like that, based on what's been conveyed to him. )

...

That night, and even since then, I've been learning more about it, and I figured that it might be important for you to hear right about now.

[Amami had an extra tally too, huh? What the hell... okay.]

Yeah, Clamor said something like... he went after you trying to save you, and he fell unconscious, and then he said... [Noah pauses as if waffling over his next words, like, he really doesn't want to say them in this way but he can't think of another way to say them, so:] ...you guys were dissolving? I didn't know you were becoming flowers, though.

( his lips turn at that — frowning some. clamor hadn't told him that bit when he got back, and he can't say he's so fond of the idea of the other risking his life for amami's, especially knowing how it turned out for the both of them. in the end though, he just kind of sighs. )

Yeah... Yeah, it was something like that.

Anyway, now that I've done some more talking, I think I figured out what was happening. See, that tree, it stores the souls of the people who die here. When that happened, it must have been trying to take ours back too.

...ah...

[That's... uncomfortable, to say the least. Noah's eyes narrow, not in a hostile way, more like he's scrunching his face up as he processes. Then, very slowly, he seems to connect some dots and softly asks,]

So... Clamor is... part of the wisteria tree...?

That's what I was told. ( and it lines up with everything he'd witnessed during the mission... unfortunately. )

I was talking with someone else before about these things, and he mentioned that the souls in the tree, some of them get another chance. That it's like a safe harbor for them to stay at, so that they don't disappear.

( which is actually kind of mixed news, from what amami witnessed, but they're not going in that direction right now. he wouldn't have brought this up at all if he thought it was something so hopeless, so intead: )

From what I got, this wouldn't be the first time Clamor's soul has been stored away like this, right?

( not that he knows too many details, but he's been able to put together enough pieces while thinking it over — what clamor had mentioned before all this happened. )

Right. He... It's hard to explain... This cult that we're after back home used a spell against him to rip his soul from his body and seal him into the form of a sickle. I... met him as a sickle, originally. I don't know how he got a body all of a sudden here, but...

[Noah pauses and then kind of... looks around the music room, like he's processing all of this. They say history repeats, and whoever "they" were, they were right.]

...I just wish I knew how to get him out of the tree, I guess.

( that there's a lot to unpack, and while amami's cataloguing that information to process later, for now he just offers a bit of a huff while noah trails off, thinking through the matter himself. )

Yeah, that's the tricky part. He is a first year, so he'd probably come back eventually, but...

( noah isn't. and even besides that, what he saw that night still tugs at him from the corner of his mind, grimacing. )

It wouldn't feel right to leave him there. ( he'll leave it at that for now. )

You're not the only one who'd be looking though, technically. I spoke with Kazuki-san a while back, and what he said about the tree was pretty interesting.

Yeah, and I don't get how... I'm a third year, but he's a first year. Back home, we were inseparable. ...It just doesn't make sense. Maya told me I was here without Clamor for a while, and I don't remember that ever being true.

[If he leaves, and Clamor doesn't, that's worse. He needs Clamor; they're a duo. A team. This goes beyond their weapon-wielder pact.]

...what did Kazuki say about the tree...?

( it's... kind of a difficult situation to be in, huh. being so far removed from the people you care about — maybe that, amami is allowed to understand. especially as a third-year himself. maya's comment tied together with this... it just makes the impact of their closeness hit even worse. )

The reason you can't remember... It's probably because you weren't there to remember, after that point.

( ... )

Anyway — I'm paraphrasing, but he said... I guess you could say that it's becoming too much. The tree, I mean. Have you ever taken a good look at it before?

( he pauses, kind of regrets choosing a room not on the tree-side of the building. he'll describe it then. )

The weight, it looks like it's pretty top heavy. The kinda thing where, if it were a normal tree, you'd need to trim it. Cut away the excess so that it doesn't fall, and the rest of it can grow properly. Can't really do that the normal way in this situation though, huh. But when I asked him if there was anything we could do for him, he said he wanted to "relieve the tree of its burdens."

[He wasn't there to remember, huh... Okay. Well. Noah's getting tired of people messing with his memories, too, you know? Things keep repeating for him — memories being erased, doppelgangers — what's next, is he going to be subjected to human experimentation again? Hello?]

Relieve it of its burdens... [He echoes softly, then,] ...you mean freeing the souls from it? We can do that, can't we? Not that I know how...

I thought so too. I'm still not sure about the best way to go about it, but we couldn't do it at all if there wasn't some way to separate them, don't you think?

( there'd have been no point in asking him to try then. )

When someone dies, we know that their soul goes to the wisteria tree. Even when Clamor and I weren't dead yet, we were still drawn there, so... when Clamor was replaced by the imposter, I think it's safe to say that he went back to it.

I can't promise anything, but if we can find Clamor's spirit, there might still be something we can do for him.

( exhaling, he'll look to noah as if to gauge his reaction.

it's... yeah, it's not anything super conclusive. when it comes to himself though, amami knows it's easier to keep moving forward when you have a goal — even an "impossible" one. so maybe that kind of thing can help noah, too. a small, faint hope for him to hold on to. )

Edited 2021-09-24 07:34 (UTC)

[Noah's reaction is to sit there for a solid minute, minute and a half maybe, as if processing... and then he scrunches his face in thought. He's not really the sort of person to show too much outwards happiness, and besides, the news that they might be able to do something when neither of them know how is... well, sure, it gives him hope, but it doesn't exactly make him elated.

Determination flashes in his strange eyes, and, yeah, that's probably the best anyone could really ask for from him.]

My first thought was using the incubator spell on the tree proper, but there's a lot of souls in there, [and he'd need something to Put Clamor In,] and I wouldn't know how to use a spell like that anyway. Maybe... Kazuki might know? Kazuki might know how to sift through the souls...

[Urgh...]

( determination, huh...

that's a good one. honestly, it's not the most exciting situation, but determination — maybe something like that can pull noah through the fog of grief and guilt and towards something better. a slim chance will always be better than none, after all. amami offers up a smile, plastered on but relieved with the answer anyway, as he leans back to point absently. )

Yeah. Yeah, I was thinking that might be one way to go about it. If he doesn't know how, he could still be able to tell us something helpful anyway.

( it's just a matter of knowing where they should start, right? )

Not sure if we wanna use the spell though — sounded to me like they messed up on that one. Either way, if we can find him, we'll figure it out from there; maybe there's even a way he can help us out himself. I mean, he is a spirit mage or something, right?

Yeah, it's a... [Noah scrunches his face up disdainfully,] It's a dangerous spell no matter how you look at it. Even if it's done correctly...

[He saw it. He knows what happened, back in the time illusion of Seven Tower, because he saw it being used back then — it's really not a spell Noah would prefer to fuck with unless he had no other choice.]

...But yeah, Clamor was a spirit mage. That was his whole thing. [That's why the spell was made in the first place — ripping people's souls out was a flaw in the design, simply put.] He's smart, so he probably knows... A...anyway, I appreciate this. I know I probably didn't seem like it, but...

[Probably because he was like, eh, three seconds from defenestrating Amami in revenge, but.]

It's no big deal. This is the least I can do, after all.

( because, yeah, it might not have been clamor technically, but hindsight is 20/20, and amami's heard by now that noah didn't exactly have the best morning when he found the body. no matter what lengths he went to to make sure that the situation wasn't misunderstood in the nurse's room, when it comes to noah, he still feels a little bit bad about that.

anyway, he'll lean back a bit, reaching into his pocket. )

And, right, about Kazuki-san... Not sure if it's the same for people with magic, but I need to use one of these, ( pulling out the adderstone, he lifts it up for noah to see, ) if I want to talk to him. If you end up needing to borrow it, consider it yours any time.

[Yeah, haha, that morning... let's not dwell too hard on the fact that Noah made a literal wall of shadows to keep people out because he knows about those corpse desecrators and he certainly was not having it. It's all said and done now, though; there's a grave set up in the courtyard and everything.]

Oh. Y-yeah, I can't see spirits on my own. [Which is dumb, because Noah thinks he should have cool spirit-seeing powers too, but that's not the point.] ...you'd really let me borrow it?

( hold up where's that grave at... maybe amami sets some gacha rocks out next to it in real clamor's honour. )

Yeah, I don't mind.

( it's an offer he's made before for the group, and it's an offer that he's especially willing to hold to in a situation like this. he's putting it back in his pocket for now, but... )

Any time you need it, just let me know. ( and, because noah seems like an independent type: ) If you want one of your own, the shopkeeper keeps a couple in stock too.

( now may not be the best time to advertise for kamo-kun but, like... listen... )

[Somewhere not too far off from the dorms, probably able to be viewed from Noah's dorm room window... he'd put flowers on it if he ever had any.]

Oh... yeah, that's right. [Duly noted for when he stops buying suncatchers. Whenever that is... Clamor would like them.] I'll... um, I'll keep it in mind.

[Sorry, he's very awkward. But at the very least, as much as his rage hasn't been quelled, it's not directed at anyone other than that long-dead doppelganger now. Success?]

( oh, good. amami'll figure something out then — maybe folding paper flowers will work. some gacha rocks... for now, he'll pull himself to his feet, stretching his legs a bit. )

Anyway, I should let you go, huh? Still have to eat lunch and all.

( that's all he had to say, really; people's spirits live in the tree, maybe they can get clamor back, and if noah wants to talk to kazuki, hit him up. )

If there's any other ways I can help, I'll do what I can.

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