npc contact.2

[adsum]

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[decrypter]

[fortunately(?) she knows nothing about the people-eating monster part of it all. to her, he's simply someone who exists here - and it's not been so long that she could have forgotten being unable to be outside. in that respect, the courtyard has a precious memory of breathing in fresh air, and someone who took care of it...well, thanking him feels natural.]

Do they often get lonely? I hadn't thought about them like that before.

[adsum]

Not in the sense you and I get lonely, but all living things yearn for interaction with other living things. Like bees to a flower, just being around life helps them grow.

[ The same goes for him; maybe he's the one who is lonely. But he has the tree which he speaks to, and sometimes, he thinks it speaks back. ]

[decrypter]

If only I was aware of that sooner. I could have spent more time with them. Still can, though, one shouldn't say it like it's hopeless.

[maybe a night walk should become a habit. maybe she'll run into him again. maybe the plants will be happier to know someone else will be paying attention to them. she's not one of those in the club, but it doesn't mean she doesn't appreciate how they feel, how they sound with the wind, how they smell. even the tree, uncertain as it might be, offers some things to cherish.]

They must be very fond of you, then, giving them so much time. Acknowledging their presence in this world.

[adsum]

Fond in their own way, perhaps. There will be those who think leaving such things alone will make them stronger, their leaves waxier, their taproots searching deeper... but nurturing something does not make it weak.

[ The same can be said of students, really. The ones here, left to their own devices, may be strong on the outside, but they are brittle within, and for all that they were elementary and middle schoolers, the first class Kazuki ever taught had souls that far outshines them. ]

They help me as much as I help them. It is why I garden.

[ Why he taught. ]

[decrypter]

[she has to agree, and nods even though neither of them can see it. companionship did not make anyone weak - it made them stronger, to know they could fall and that someone would be there to help them get up again. no one is adrift on their own.

and yet, perhaps it's overreaching, but-]

Do you always garden alone?

[the plants may be wonderful in certain ways, but they cannot talk back.]

[adsum]

Normally, I do. But, more and more, students have been up at night to stop by and chat. Others approach with interest in gardening. I wish more of you would be asleep this late at night.

[ Presumably people leave by midnight. He wouldn't be able to tell. ]

[decrypter]

Even though it would mean you were lonelier?

[fretting about their health is one thing, wanting to be alone another, but the way he speaks...]

[adsum]

Even then. I need not somebody by my side throughout the night, when a moment here and there lets me know I'm not alone.

[ Even if those moments are weeks or months or years apart ]

[decrypter]

I suppose that's one way to live.

[even if it doesn't seem like much of one to her. moment by moment...is that enough to be sustained on?]

But if enough people are stopping by, seeking you out...it means they want to see you specifically. Even though I came here because there was too much on my mind, I meant what I said. I'm happy that I managed to catch you here. And that you're kind enough to not shoo me away.

[adsum]

I suppose.

[ What Helena refers to as kindness, he sees as the bare minimum. It's a public courtyard, and while he tends to it, he is not its keeper, has no bearing on who stays and who does not. ]

The school's counselor is a good man to unburden your thoughts upon, if ever you get the chance. Otherwise, I hope you have other avenues to untangle them, lest you become mired in your own mind.

[decrypter]

He won't see us. That, or he's never there.

[she huffs a little sigh - what can you do?]

But walking helps sort things out. Doing something always seems to work.

[adsum]

I'm sure he is simply busy. He would never turn away a student who needed him.

[ He's a counselor? That's his job. Mizuki, do your job.

But maybe things have changed for him, as it had for Kazuki, but he sincerely hopes his old friend had held onto the love he had for his students all the same. ]

Whenever you need to, you are free to walk upon these grounds, lass. If your hands need occupying as much as your mind, the plants would enjoy being tended to in the daylight.

[decrypter]

That would be wonderful...

[and she means it, there's much sincerity in her words.]

But, how? I have no sight - I'm afraid I'd make a rather poor job of tending them.

[adsum]

[ ? It's too bad Helena can't see the expression Kazuki makes at learning the person he's talking to is blind. Same hat... though he sincerely wishes her situation is vastly different from his own. ]

...You are not alone in not being able to see the world around you. But if that's the case, you know better than most how to feel the world, do you not? Plants are alive just as much as people are. You simply tend to them the same you would any person.

[decrypter]

[she gives a small hm of acknowledgement, and takes a few steps closer to a plant, slowly reaching out to touch its leaves, which rustle softly from the movement.]

What if I harm them in my ignorance?

[it would be a shame, wouldn't it? to lose them to someone's inept care.]

...Sorry, I'm asking too many questions. I'll control myself.

[adsum]

No, you need not be sorry. Questions are a sign and interest and engagement; I could not be more pleased with them.

[ Questions means he gets to teach, to show, to bring another person into his world and help them know it as he knows it. He makes his way forward towards Helena and her chosen plant, though he does linger more than an arm's distance when he comes to a stop. ]

Plants are resilient, lass. Grass trampled beneath one's feet will come to rise again. Bushes that are pruned will grow back thicker. If you overwater a plant one day, the next morning it will form sweet dew. And for every mistake that is made, you will learn.

[decrypter]

[she gives a little hum of acknowledgement, considering the words. she knows what that feels like - to make a mistake, and to try again and again until the right path is unlocked, the right course of action. but with these plants, it feels like messing up is almost grave. they weren't hers. and yet...he's offering permission to try.

though he can't see the small smile on her face, he'll be able to hear it in her voice.]

No better place to learn than a school.

[trying. it might give her something of a purpose.]

[adsum]

That is right. People are much the same way, so whenever you feel downtrodden, have faith you will rise again. And don't be afraid to let others tend to you, nor afraid to tend to others.

[ People are just like plants. He means this in a good way. ]