yogen | npc contact.2

( the anger is pretty much radiating off of rokkun in waves, yeah, and amami's no stranger to that kind of feeling. the words shouldn't really come as a surprise to him, but he can't say that he'd been expecting them either. in the end what he offers is a slow blink, and with a tilt of his head, the light smile doesn't fall from his features. his brows do draw together more apologetically though. if it were anyone other than rokkun, maybe he'd have a different response, but... knowing the situation, it's not like amami doesn't understand where the sentiment might come from. )

Hey now, no need to be so serious. It's what they asked me to call them, I think they'd be pretty upset if I stopped and they didn't know why.

( the not knowing is the key part here, but anyway. )

Still, it's good you were able to show.

[ The hurt shows on Rokkun's face and he wishes it didn't, wishes he could wipe that smug grin off Amami's face but for all his anger and frustrations, it's the hurt that rises above his neck and threatens to drown him.

He would have been angry but able to accept it if Amami had found out the same way Komaeda found out, inadvertently stumbling across a memory nobody was ever supposed to see. But for his brother to give away that name— and it really does feel like giving away, from the hands of the brother who bestowed it upon him in the first place, to the hands of somebody else— somebody Kogamo clearly cares about, somebody who is taking care of him, who he calls a brother, who is doing what is supposed to be Rokuro's job but he's been... replaced. He isn't needed anymore. Kogamo is happy— thriving— without him. It's all Rokuro had ever wanted and he should be happy about it but instead, the hurt feels like drowning.

He squeezes his eyes shut tight, wills himself to not cry, and opens them again. ]

Why is he here?

[ How is he here? Why? ]

( buddy, he's a transfer student, and checking the calendar, the one time he guessed at what he's doing here he got rejected on it. he can't make solid or positive guesses for this trick question... )

I'd tell you if I knew, believe me, but I thought it was important for you to know that they are.

( because, even if they've started off on the wrong foot here, he'd still like to be optimistic. to think that things will turn out, or at least begin to turn at all. he's kind of counting on them to... that look of hurt after all, it's like a knife to the gut, and amami doesn't want to leave this misunderstanding here if he can help it. )

Listen, I know it... it probably looks pretty bad, yeah. I'm on your side though.

[ Yeah, it looks pretty bad!! He would love it if Amami were to drop dead right here and now. If he were really on Rokkun's side he would give his brother back— is what he would say if he didn't recognize what a childish notion it is to demand someone return the affections of another person. ]

There are no sides to this, Rantarou. He can't be here— I'm supposed to have graduated so I can go back and keep him from dying in the first place!

[ But if Kogamo is already dead, what the hell is he working so hard for? ]

( from "don't you ever call him that" to "there are no sides" kinda feels like a disconnect, but it's that last bit that really catches amami. he kinda looks at rokkun for a moment, visibly surprised, but listen — he's taking this seriously too. with a hand to his chin in thought, he might not know the objective details going on with that kind of statement, but he can draw one thing from it. )

Go back, huh?

( meeting rokkun's eyes, he's a little expectant. )

Then we'll just have to find a way for you to bring them with you when you do.

( if one of them can get a second chance, then who's to say both of them can't, together? )

[ There are no sides because he's right and everything else is invalid. ]

It's easy to make empty promises.

[ He has... no idea, does he? Not like Rokuro, who has been trying again and again for years and years, who's going to try one last time. Kogamo being here puts a wrench in his plan, one that feels like a mountain despite it realistically being a hurdle, and he thinks maybe it's because when he thinks of his brother, he sees the toddler with soft mochi cheeks making a game for himself of chasing his brother's shadow.

It's that child he needs to return to, it's that child that needs him. He doesn't want to have missed him growing up, to see him become somebody strong willed and independent because he had no other choice, for them to have died so young when he was supposed to be there to protect him.

...it's still his responsibility to protect him. ]

I'll be the one who's going to save him from this place. To save everyone... [ Whoever is left, anyways. He's not so stupid nor optimistic to think everybody will make it to graduation day. With that thought, ]

Rantarou. Promise me you'll take care of him. If you let anything happen to him, I'm leaving you behind.

( it's easy to make them, but rokkun's asking for another one, huh? there's a tired look to amami as it's asked of him — a little disappointed, and underneath, in the way he averts his eyes, a little guilty too. the way that's said, it doesn't sound like rokkun's planning on spending too much time looking after them himself, and this isn't the hand-off he was looking for today; he was aiming for things to be the other way around, actually. breathing a heavy sigh, hands on his hips, but somehow, it feels wrong to tell rokkun that he's choosing the wrong person for something this important. in the end, he shakes his head. )

You don't have to ask or threaten for me to do that...

( even if he's too late, and even if it means blood on his hands, amami will do it — no matter the cost, he'll make sure that they're safe. that, if it's really true, what rokkun is saying, they'll be able to return home where they belong, with the brother they love, with the brother who loves them. they'll live out a long, full life, where they get to see the world and learn about everything it has to offer them... it'll all be the way things are supposed to be.

...

anyway, he gets to make a request too now. that's how this kind of thing works, he's pretty sure, so glancing up, he meets rokkun's gaze once again. )

But hey, make sure you go by the store some time, yeah? I'm sure it'd make them happy, getting some business.

( for their brother to be nearby... )

[ Rokuro gives him a look like this isn't how it works? Who is Amami to request anything from him? ]

I don't have the money to spare. I'll see him after work.

[ Imagine if npckun kicked their own brother out for loitering instead of spending money ]

No problem, I'll lend it to you.

( no excuses, it's not like he's telling him to have a big heart-to-heart or anything like that. )

Let me know when you have time to stop by. I can even give you recs if you don't know what to get.

( or, rather, if he doesn't care what he buys. )

I won't take your money. I wouldn't be able to pay you back, and I'm not a charity case.

[ He sounds a little insulted, actually, like someone very poor being offered an unfathomable amount of money as if it were pocket change. And that's how it is, that's how he grew up. Npckun would've taken the money without hesitation, they don't know. ]

Whether you take it or not, it's all gonna end up in the same place. I don't plan on keeping any for myself.

( it's all ending up in kamo-kun's register at the end of the day, so why not let rokkun hand some of it over? in any case, all that indignance in his expression only garners one that reads like, why, from amami. hear him out: )

'Sides, I think you'd like to see them — the kind of things they make. Seems like they took after the two of you quite a bit.

[ Oh he kind of hates that "Look at me, I'm so rich I can toss all this money into the gutter and not even care" attitude.

But— the two of them...? ]

Kamome? Did you know her?

[ Also what about Kogamo is like him? nothing, from the two minutes he's seen of the kid ]

( ah, kamome, huh? that's cute... there's a theme going here. )

Not personally... but I've heard a lot about her.

( though, with a glance out the window, he looks a little bit worried. they're supposed to be catching the sunrise, right? so he doesn't really have all day to reminisce about how kamo-kun still thinks of them even now — not if he's going to keep his promise to them. )

Anyway, we're keeping them waiting. If you want, I don't mind catching up later though.

( not that rokkun seems too excited by the prospect, but he needs to offer. )

Sure.

[ Okay, so when I first read this tag, I thought Amami was offering for Rokkun to head upstairs first and he'll "catch up later" as in he'll give Rokkun the time to talk with the other two before coming upstairs to join them. This, Rokkun is fine with. Later can be indefinite, that'd be even better.

But now I'm reading it like "catching up" in terms of getting to know one another better and now I'm not sure anymore but either way, it's the first one that Rokkun thinks.

So he turns on his heel and heads down the hall towards the stairwell as if heading up first, with a heavy lean on the handrail and favoring one leg more than the other so he can meet these assholes up on the roof. ]

npc contact.2

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