yogen | npc contact.2

[ His hushing is louder than npc-kun's breathing but they'll play along, clamping both hands over their mouth to show Komaeda they're quiet as can be. ]

( turn, turn... turn... pulls back, shakes the locker, and isn't successful at all. what curse akira got on it...

give him a few more tries, of being like a failure, and when he's about to give up and tell npc-kun they should move on: voila!

it clicks, slowly opening for them to show whatever akira keeps on hand — what's in here? )

You did it! ( he pulls away, getting to his feet now as he pats npc-kun's head. ) You're like my lucky charm... normally I have to use violence.

[ They're very much ready to move on by attempt number three, almost falling asleep when Komaeda raises his voice and touches their head and that little spike of adrenaline wakes them up immediately.

... ]

-—Yeah, I did it!! I knew you could do it with me around!

[ Moral support or something, it doesn't matter, they're already peering inside this locker to see what's in it. No backpack or notebooks since Akki isn't at school today, but there's that handheld he uses to pass the time during breaks, sitting on top of eight spacemaker pencil boxes. Lots of blue ink pens... a handful of vinyl erasers... plastic rulers... laminated bookmarks...

It's mostly the school supplies of somebody who is used to lending things out and never getting them back. ]

...

( komaeda's disappointed, what's the point of being a nerd if there's nothing in here to take and use for studies? a failure to npc-kun again, especially with how he looks down at the ground wondering how much self-loathing he should do — he's an idiot, he should kill himself, and... )

The handheld probably goes for a lot.

( ... it's like he's being spiteful there's nothing interesting in here to take, but if npc-kun takes that and holds onto it, akira would want to buy it back, right? )

[ Akki's a nerd so all his study materials are at home where he studies??

Quiet, npc-kun stares at the handheld... Picks it up and puts it in their pocket. ]

Okay, let's go to the next one.

( akki knows better than this, but he'll point at the write up of all the students that called out. )

Who do you want to check next? Seki-kun hasn't been here for awhile, do you think he's left a few valuables.

( ...

...

...

aiko's locker... did she leave komaeda a love letter. )

[ Aiko died before she could write anything ]

I don't know Seki... Is he rich?

[ Does he have fun things to pawn? It's been months since he existed, but he once filled the role npc-kun does now in providing outside things for people, albeit without the sky high price tag ]

( stop what's in her locker ? a note to past komaeda listen. )

Maybe, we should find out... tell me three locker numbers, and we'll guess his.

( oh my god, not how npc-kun is seki v2, yes, we will be getting npc-kun everything that seki has and more, and they'll pawn that too. )

It's been awhile since I had a sidekick, so this is fun.

[ ? ]

You're my sidekick.

[ But let's see, hmm, I rolled three numbers and they're ]

020, 177, aaaaand 102.

( google rng said 102, so i guess we found his locker. )

Hm? Nope, I'm something else to you than your sidekick, besides... sidekicks don't go to Saransk.

( alright, it's time for them to trot, trot, trot. )

Saihara-kun's locker is close to that one: 102.

[ Oh- okay, then he's not their sidekick, because they do still want to see what all the hype is about Saransk ]

Saihara wasn't on your list... Should we break into his too?

Huh? Never! We could never do that to him, that's... against everything I stand for!

( they are never going near his locker, but they'll finally walk over to 102, and he'll look towards npc-kun. )

Here... you have the honors, if you can get in... maybe I can think of what house we should have when we move.

Something made of brick.

[ But okok they're going to do the same thing Komaeda did and press their ear to the door and try to figure out when to stop turning, mumbling numbers under their breath. There's only 39 numbers on the lock, so... 39 times 39, 1 27+8 351 27 9+2 1170+351 1521 times 39...

...

...

It's only 59,319 tries if they go at it one by one. They'll get it eventually. ]

... A brick mansion? Sounds durable, I think.

( let him think about it, a mansion with what color brick? maybe red, or perhaps white... he's seen a few glass ones as well, but with how big they are... and the echoes, it's sort of lonely — or that's how it was when he lived in one. older, however, he didn't have that luxury, it was always loud with the kids he had running about — causing mayhem, killing adults, and as he looks at the back of npc-kun's head, he doesn't know how active the other is but... )

How many rooms... I never had a small home, so we can go with the usual.

( maybe he should format it like the cabin? rolled a d20 three times: 12, 8, 13.

yeah... sounds like a struggle, but two are above 11... so maybe npc-kun gets a little luck as a treat. )

2 bed, 1.5 bath.

[ One bed would probably be fine too, since they—-

oh!

Once the first two numbers are guessed correctly, all they need to do is turn the lock while tugging on it slightly and the door swings open when they pass over the correct third number. ]

Let's see what's in here!

[ They can see lots of colorful folders, those thin plastic ones you assign colors to subjects and npc-kun picks up a blue one and is surprised it's not math inside. Which color's math... Math is red. Inside are slightly crumpled old math exams with failed grades. ]

( it's kind of... different to discuss living with someone when he's not going to make it. two beds, half a bath, and is that the little tubs that doesn't have the shower connected? )

...There should be a small library, and—...

( he stops as npc-kun manages to get the locker open, and he claps his hands surprised at how fast they went about it unlike komaeda-arata did. look a' there, they're getting the hang of this. )

Oh, let me see. ( he's walking up behind them, placing his chin on top of their head as he looks down. )

30... 15... 35... this student was a failure, don't memorize any of this...

( choose another folder. )

[ npc-kun mutters something about being able to correct these answers, but dutifully puts the folder away to swap for another, trying hard to keep their head still so Komaeda won't move his away.

What else are they confident in... Science. They open the green folder and see... science!! The universal constant. ]

Wow, they're pretty bad at this too.

It's actually despairing... maybe that's why they haven't came back to school.

( science, let's see, he wonders if it's plain science or... the most evil version: chemistry — which komaeda-arata's a rich boy, and attended hope's peak... half of these subjects don't apply to him. this is like the poor man's knowledge when he has to learn like... more important stuff. )

If we were given grades like this in my old school, they'd kick you out, and it'd be pretty pathetic...

( he reaches out to point at one of the topic on the paper. ) What do you think, he must've got stabbed for the right reason?

[ Chemical equations are fun... but then it quickly becomes more complicated than npc-kun can handle. What's in this notebook doesn't look too difficult, though, and by looking, they can follow the student's thought process and where they went wrong. ]

-—huh?

[ Tearing their eyes away from the papers, they look over at Komaeda ]

This person got stabbed?

Why do you seem so shocked? It was for hope, after all!

( or their own brand of hope, komaeda-arata only knows so much, and he doesn't want to worry npc-kun with it — they should know that this school isn't chalked up to being the best. everyone has their own secret agendas, they fight for the chance at graduation. )

It was before you got here, P-kun. It happened awhile back, but I never met him though... If he survives, then he has a pretty decent hope, that's all.

( he'll reach out to pull at another folder, is there anything interesting for a disposed student, he thinks. )

[ Okay so I forgot we were talking about Seki, he hasn't existed in like half a year ]

Oh... So all this stuff is from the beginning of the year? That's sad.

[ Beginning of the year is when things are still easy. This is sad. ]

( he dead as hell, we moving on, he ain't leave no clues but the shovel one... goodbye. )

... No wonder he might be dead, oh well, do you think Fu Hua had better grades?

( god that's when teacher's basically gave you the answers. anyway, fu hua's name is cute so komaeda-arata is hoping for the best. )

No. These are all people who stayed home because of a little headache.

[ They're not serious students. They're not me who goes to school with a migraine and makes attendance and then goes to the nurse's office to throw up and go home. ]

They are... it's a shame what happened, do you think the third years will make it...

( to graduation because they staying out over a migraine is kind of embarrassing.

ok i'm talking shit about them but i'd stay home too if i had a migraine... crying. )

How can you make a sell if you don't have their studies... They're not smart enough to have learned about the manifolds...

Nah.

[ Graduation's rough and npc-kun lacks the faith. Even with study guides...

They step back away from the locker and closes the door, because there's nothing useful for them in here. ]

They'll fail even with study guides. Maybe they'll pay me to do their homework for them.

[ Like, if they do well, great. If they struggle and get bad grades, at least it wouldn't be too far off to cause suspicion ]

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