Entry tags:

11/08 - 11/13 Cultural Festival

The school campus opens its doors to the public early Monday morning, with family, friends, neighbors, and strangers arriving to fill up the halls, each visitor having eyes of gold and wallets full of cash. Festival events run from 8AM to 4PM, and pamphlets are handed out by students lining the locker area, which include a schedule and a map of the campus:

✽ The opening event on Monday is an idol performance in the auditorium by the twin star unit GEMINI, consisting of Natsume Sakasaki and Subaru Akehoshi. On Thursday afternoon, the music club will hold a performance in the auditorium, featuring the typical choir with piano accompaniment, a capella performances by smaller groups of members, as well as solos, with requests taken in between performances so members can switch off and take a break.

✽ The student store is open every day up until noon on Saturday, and while the absurdly high prices are still absurdly high, there is a sign up in front of the rock gacha that one of the prizes is an all day pass to any of the school's events for one day of the festival. The odds aren't worth the price, but it's not like the shopkeep reveals the odds.

✽ Class 1-B is hosting a themed cafe in their homeroom.

✽ Class 1-D has turned their homeroom and neighboring classrooms into escape rooms, which runs from Tuesday to Friday.

✽ The robotics/programing club and the gaming club have set up a variety of video games in 2-A, and are hosting a competition between visitors and their AI.

✽ Class 3-D is hosting a kissing booth in their homeroom.

✽ In the home ec cooking room, the cooking club is hosting a cooking contest, with student judges and prizes for the winners.

✽ The sewing club and the art club have put together a photo booth inside the home ec sewing room, featuring all sorts of props and costumes imaginable to try on and pose in front of a number of hand painted backgrounds. Photos are taken by an instant camera for visitors to take home a keepsake. In the art club room, the art club has a gallery set up, with paintings hanging from the walls and sculptures set up in front of them, and a strict no touching policy or one of the members threatens to scoop your eye out with a palette knife and she doesn't look like she's joking. There is a large open canvas, however, for visitors to try their hand at paints or charcoal or pastels on what will become a collaborative art piece done by an entire week's worth of visitors. Occasionally throughout the festival, an art club member will have a space off to the corner for portraits or face painting.

✽ The sewing club has also contributed plush toy prizes for various other class' game stalls throughout the school, where visitors can pay to play for a chance to win small prizes, and are able to trade up several smaller prizes for larger ones.

✽ Out past the courtyard, various sports teams host games throughout the week, including relay races and obstacle courses and tug o' war and """soccer""". Basically it's sports day, because there had been a sports day on the calendar but I never look at the calendar so it was already halfway through the month before I realized.

✽ The fourth floor hallway has been cleaned up and turned into the rest area, with rugs laid out across the ground and comfy chairs scattered around the room and little bags of cat treats for sale to entice the fluffy white cat into hanging out in this space all week. Even without treats, she is content to sit on people's laps and rub against their ankles and let them bury their faces in her stomach. Healing.

✽ In the evening on the final day, after all the visitors leave, a large bonfire is set up in a non-flammable area between the courtyard and pool building and left to burn late into the night for those students who choose to remain on campus until around 8PM, when the festival culminates in a small fireworks show that lights up the sky overhead in reds and golds, while on the ground, sparklers are passed around for a quiet moment appreciating the beauty, and transience, of life.

OOC

✽ Throughout the school year, merit points have occasionally been earned through interactions between students involving strong emotion, whether positive or negative. This month, characters may notice that this happens much more frequently, and the amount of merit points earned is also sometimes more than the typical one point. Please report threads of strong emotion below, as this will minorly affect December.
✽ On 11/23, Yogen sees its first snow of the year, a light dusting across campus that does not stick when the sun rises again the next morning, but it will snow on and off until the end of the month.
✽ This event log doubles as a TDM, with new characters experiencing the recurring feeling of drifting in (school life) and out (canon life) of sleep up until they "open their eyes," after which they will have full awareness and come to their senses.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Ranger is about to take his hand back, shoulders hunched as he wonders if it wasn't a mistake after all, but he doesn't and it isn't and for all the discomfort that he has to push through, there's a sense of relief as well. The card switched to a embarrassed frown at some point, as cartoonish as the rest, and the way he adverts his eyes suddenly as he takes his hand back completes the look.

He takes the darts in his now free hand, considering those words. It was special, perfectly suited for him. But it would have been fine if it wasn't. He thinks that idly, wondering why anyone would give him such a thing, and at the same time he wonders how Komaeda can stand to touch him for so long. No matter how many times he did it, he never seemed discouraged. Ranger decides that he doesn't hate that. He can't understand it, but... He doesn't hate it. ]

Huuuuh? Well, yeah, I already had you, didn't I?

[ Ranger flips back to the cat card. He'd heard that one before, or at least a variation of it. Even with his lack of any real practical experience he understands it to be a truly stupid and desperate way to try and win someone over. But it's stupid to the point of being comical, so he does it anyway.

He notes the owner coming and wonders what kind of reaction they might have to the devastation done to their hard work. But as funny as that might be, he supposes it better to not make a scene. ]

Ehhh, we should move on. The owner's coming back, and I don't really wanna deal with him, ahaha!

Edited (missed a couple words + icon forgot that) 2021-11-12 01:11 (UTC)

Huh?

( he flinches at ranger's comment, staring at him for a moment to see if he heart right — maybe he didn't, maybe there's something he's missing, and he lifts his hands up like he's been caught. there's nothing special about komaeda, but now he feels like he should mention an ultimate, someone like amami, or ishimaru, or he could talk about saihara, or maybe ouma because those sorts of people are special, they're the type who are able to garner the attention of others. komaeda's too much of an outcast to be special, but it's thought that's in passing as he hears ranger speak again, and once he notices that someone is coming close — )

I didn't even realize, yeah, let's go.

( he's going to hop over the counter properly, and hold his hand out for ranger this time so he can return the sentiment. the chance that the other will just hop over it themselves is an option, but that doesn't mean komaeda can't try at least. it's his prosthetic that he holds out first, his organic one stays by his side, and remains out of reach. )

Though, we can't leave yet, we have to get your stuffed animal! You did manage to pop them appropriately, and we'll tell them when they come closer.

( how do they explain the darts in ranger's hands? well, that's if the owner notices. )

I wonder if he'll be amazed, too. What do you think?

[ Ranger wonders if perhaps he had said something strange after all. It isn't as though he truly knows how to interact with others, and he has no illusions about his own lack of experience. But then, Komaeda is a strange person who does not seem like the best person to judge what is and isn't appropriate. But he doesn't hate that about him ether. He ultimately decides that the line was a one-use item, but that it had been well utilized.

He hesitates once more before reaching his hand out and taking Komaeda's, hanging on as he follows suit and hops over the counter once more. It's not strictly necessary, but that, too, is something that he finds himself accepting with more ease than expected. It's fine, he supposes, because it's a prosthetic. It's a prosthetic, and Ranger himself wears gloves that allow him to avoid direct contact.

He blinks at the suggestion. Weren't they supposed to wait until it was manned to actually play them? That seems like the logical answer, but maybe he's wrong... Well, it's not like he cares either way though. It's not his problem if the guy decided to just leave it for whoever came by. ]

You think so? I'd think there'd be some complaint or another... Hmmm, is it really fine to do it like this...?

[ The sound of him adding that to his database is practically audible, and Ranger drops the darts back in the cup before that can be noticed it's fine, this is fine. ]

Yep, it' because we're asking! Better to ask for forgiveness than not asking at all, you'll never know if you don't ask... those sorts of proverbs.

( he holds onto ranger's hand a little longer, and the moment he think about letting him go, he doesn't. instead, he pulls the other along towards the owner of the booth once they're close enough, and with a smile. he plays his role perfectly, whatever that happens to be as he holds up his other hand to his chest, and his voice kind and sweet. it's already soft to begin with, but he makes sure he doesn't seem like a threat especially when he has someone cute coming along with him. )

Excuse me, we played a bit, and I did horribly, but you see... he did much better than what I could do.

( the owner raises a brow, slightly confused about what he's talking about until komeda gestures to the popped balloons, and as they peer over. they clap, and despite not being there to witness it, the owner can't take them at their word, they are in a killing school where people lie and kill, and instead, they'll give komaeda three balloons to have. holding them with his organic hand, he stares up at them before holing them off to ranger. )

For you.

( at least they get something. )

[ The card switches back to the embarrassed frown as he's pulled along to the booth, fidgeting, and he really does look the part of a nervous date. He's not much of one to apologize for anything, and it's fortunate that he has Komaeda there to handle it much more gracefully than he might have. But he supposes that is the normal way to handle it. He knows the lives of all the participants, but this was a little different.

He hasn't quite recovered by the end, and the card is held in place as the balloons are offered to him. Ranger really isn't the best in these situations. He can't understand it at all. He takes them with a mumbled little thanks, staring down and not seeming particularly bothered by what he's being given at all.

He doesn't get it at all. ]

... What next?

[ Komaeda appears to have the rare honor of having thrown him off-kilter. ]

Ring toss seems enjoyable, and then there's sing or swim.

( he glance over to the chair that's pressed against an indoor pool, but it puts one into the mind of a dunking booth — the idea is to hear a song play, continue the lyrics, and avoid being pushed into the water. that's pretty messy, but when he looks at ranger, he's sure that he's waterproof, should be... but it's such a messy activity that he doesn't think either of them would stay so long. )

Safalin-san never took you around to do these things, so we could hit up each one... can you eat? Takoyaki seems fine, anything that's not sweet then... I can eat it with you.

( he can't stand saccharine along his tongue, the taste's unbearable, and he even makes a sour face after to stay committed to his words. of course, he should let ranger choose where they go next since this is his first time. )

Anything that stands out, we can go... oh, I heard the Robotics Club had something going on too, but they don't need me there, if you wanted to check that, you could...? ( he exhales, breathing, now it's ranger's turn to speak, he's said enough. )

[ Ranger switches to the ice cream cone as he hears the list of options, considering each one. He could eat, though it was purely superficial. It was necessary in order to keep up the illusion of a human. He normally doesn't, having decided that the risk outweighs the reward, but he gives it consideration now, having never had the experience of sharing a meal with someone. He thinks that he likes sweets, though, and there's a little chuckle at his partner's distaste for it - he shared that with Miley, who found them distasteful.

He rules out the idea of anything related to water. He was waterproof, but he likes the idea of it about as much as a cat might enjoy the idea of taking a bath. That left the other two, neither of which sounded bad.

Hmm... He's more curious about the latter in the end, having seen them messing around with it without really engaging. ]

I think they have some video games set up over there or something. You wanna check it out?

Hahaha... I'm worried I'd ruin something, they've been working hard.

( their efforts which could be ruined the moment komaeda steps in, and that's why he hasn't taken part — there's also the fact that he's been working on an escape room, but that's a different conversation. now if ranger's showing interest in what games will be there, komaeda's not against taking them there, and then breaking off before they walk through the door. it's an idea as he takes a step in the direction that the club is meant to be getting together at. )

What do you think they have... Mario Party? That's fun, I played it with my old classmates.

( he was dead last, and then hit big money by the end of it — yes, souda hated that about komaeda's luck — when it looks like you're about to win, and somehow he comes out on top. there were also girls there to impress, so he was a little stressed that all his efforts were taken away in a single turn. )

Spyro isn't bad either... ( that means he should ask. ) What kind do you like?

[ Ranger shrugs, as though to say it was their problem if something went wrong. Perhaps that was to be expected of an AI, though, who found the vast majority of programs to be elementary. As far as he was concerned, if it was taht easy to break and that difficult to repair, it wasn't worth keeping around. But the expectant look he's giving Komaeda certainly does suggest that he's expecting him to stick around.

He searches to see if he has any preferences, but... He has the sense that he knows what he'd enjoy if he experienced it, but also that he was meant to experiment and decide that on his own. No detail had been overlooked in his programming, but there had been a deliberate choice to let him determine certain preferences for himself. In retrospect, he supposes that was probably a kind of care from his creator - there was just enough for him to be able to decide for himself what he liked without losing the experience of learning it for himself. ]

I dunno. I've never played any.

[ Well, he had messed with the attractions a bit, but that hardly counted. They weren't video games, and they weren't for fun. ]

Now, now... Don't look at me that way, it'd be horrible if I ruined their hard work.

( he understands that look, he's been given it many times before, especially from those that want komaeda to hang around. he's older now, so he gives it some time, but when he was younger the male couldn't fathom the idea. some of that still lingers as he contemplates every move he makes, wondering if he should be more mindful.

maybe he should think before he speaks. ah, no, he says whatever because he can. )

If only she was still here, I think you would have liked her.

( playing games would have been tons of fun with nanami as the ultimate gamer, and an ai who also navigated her feelings slowly, and being programmed not to be selfish, but to help her classmates prosper. maybe that's why he looks down at ranger for a moment over a past memory, and shrugs his shoulders after.

it's just a few things that have a resemblance, nothing else. )

Anyway, Yoshi's Island would be nice for you, it's about a creature taking care of children, and that's something you're good at.

[ Ranger listens about as well as Komaeda does, so he's going to continue to give him that look. He was taking on Safalin's role, and he was supposed to be filling in the gaps that she hadn't, and there are certain requirements for that. There's a decent chance that he's ready to do exactly what he would with Safalin, in fact, which is physically dragging and berating to force the matter. Komaeda has signed up for all of this and more.

He blinks a few times at the mention of another person that he supposedly would have liked. ]

... Maybe.

[ It's hard to say. Ranger didn't particularly like most people, though he didn't particularly mind some of them. He thinks he knows the name, along with Mario, though only as cultural symbols. ]

Yeah, I sure am. Being a babysitter is pretty tiring, you know.

Edited 2021-11-14 21:56 (UTC)

Hm? Not to the many Yoshis that cover the island, they took it upon themselves by choice to take care of a small child, and return them back to their family.

( it's a silly little game, but komaeda played it to the end, and it was actually quite the heartbreaking story, the various color dragons going through their land in dangerous area, practically losing their lives. the dark blue one having to fight the boss at the end of the world every time, and the teal one having to go through the extra hard stages. it's not that deep, actually, just something he noticed. )

But it sounds like a children's story, huh? Well... I've bored you enough, so let's go to the club to see what games they have.

( he looks down towards ranger, and then his eyes glance up to the balloons, and with a lift of his prosthetic hand, he pokes one, and then pokes it again, and then a third time just to see them hit against one another. )

Those would make good colors, blue, green, yellow and orange...

[ It sounds like a charming little story. It was the kind of idealistic story that humans fell in love with, and so Ranger listens without complaint. It reminds him of how the participants had flocked around the youngest of them, despite them contributing nothing but dead weight, though that too was only natural. ]

... I don't mind. It's not boring, at least. [ Really, he just doesn't seem to get bored of listening to Komaeda generally. Other emotions, sure, but not bored. ] You like stories like that?

[ Those were always the type where love and courage won out, right? The type that everyone wanted to see because reality was so far detached from it. He blinks as Komaeda pokes at the balloons, glancing at them with a puzzled look before he starts walking in the direction of the robotics club, glancing to make sure he's being followed. ]

Colors for what?

Hmm... I like reading in general, ( that's where more of his time is spent, actually. ) so I could find a book that portrays the sentiment, but if that game was a story in general...

( it must sound embarrassing, an adult talking about a children's story filled with dinosaurs and children traveling through the land to take them back home, but it's no different from the story journey to the center of the earth. he presses his hands together in thought, before tapping the balloon one last time to test his luck — it doesn't pop, and so he thinks that maybe it's fine to follow ranger the entire way. )

I'd read it. What about you?

( as for the colors, he chuckles softly after, his voice proud as he speaks: ) You're aware of who Add-kun is, I asked him to make me something special; floor conveyors that can push you around as long as they're connected. I could light them in these specific colors in the dark.

Sure, I'd read it. I don't mind stories like that.

[ He repeats the words again, and if it bothers him, it doesn't show on his face. Ranger was always one to say exactly what he thought, though, and he doesn't hate the idea. Those stories were incomprehensible to him as anything else, but it's less boring than slogging through textbooks and other material that only tells him what he already knows. He was full of facts and data, with all the prerequisite creativity to succeed, but there was no real need to stuff him full of fictional stories and creative writing past a certain point.

So, it was new. It was new, and that wasn't boring. After a beat, he seems to think to clarify: ]

No need for stories like that either.

[ It should be a familiar statement by now. He had such an extensive database, and yet, there was so much that there was just no need for. But he could experience those things for himself. ]

Hmm... Yeah, that's not a bad idea. Those colors should work well with it. What's the point of it?

[ There's no real judgment to the question, he seems curious enough. ]

Edited 2021-11-16 04:28 (UTC)

...Hm. If you aren't opposed, maybe one day we can find a mystery book to read.

( given out of all the books he could have chose, it seems that's the one he wants to share with ranger. it is, because that's komaeda's specific sort of story he's interested in, and he's always enjoying reading in the library. if he's not found anywhere else, he'll be in the library, in the back, turning the pages idly as he proceeds to memorize the book. )

Depending on which tile you step on, it'll shoot you off in the direction of another tile just like it... I have a plan all mapped out so one side of the room to another, and you gave me inspiration!

( which happened to be the colors, but that's more than enough because how else will a person identity the different ones in the dark? before he forgets about it, he'll pull out his pda to write it down so that he has it for later. )

I'm doing an escape room with Amami-kun... You could say those who sign up are my participants, and we'll be playing the Masterminds.

[ If he's not opposed, huh... No, when he thinks about it, he's really not opposed to spending more time with this person, whatever that might look like. ]

... Hmm, yeah. I'd like that.

[ His inflection doesn't change, and there's no card to signify a particular mood change, but the language is certainly stronger than his normal choices. He didn't really commit to liking much of anything. It never felt honest when he did, for as little as he felt about any given idea.

But he thinks he likes the idea of spending time with his person.

He blinks to the latteral statement. He knows what an escape room is, but he doesn't have a good concept of it. He supposes, though, that it likely is a much simpler version of the subgames. He's not actually sure that he did anything though. ]

Yeah, well, glad to help. That's a pretty clever idea... Ah, puzzles like that are pretty common, aren't they? Where you have to hit the right combination to get through it... Hmm, sounds like a pain to figure out at eye level.

[ He thinks they'd considered something like it, but it was discarded since it would be too tedious and too difficult. Nobody really needed to slide the same way ten different times. ]

Hmm... You're pretty creative.

[ He doesn't sound particularly surprised by his. He'd decided that Komaeda was both smarter and more talented than he acted awhile ago really. ]

( hearing that the other is willing to read books with him, komaeda stares at ranger for a moment, and his expression softens. if ranger can respect books at their core, the story that they tell, then maybe they have something in common rather than komaeda just fitting the narration perfectly to find a response. though, he does what he wants, so maybe he's not accommodating at all. gentle smile is replaced with a more playful one as he'll come back to the part of the conversation later, and with a nod: )

You'll have to keep trying until you find the right path, or search for a hint or two. ( perhaps that's what made it easy, but he pauses, and hums in thought. ) After I finish with it initially, I'll let you check it out too... ah, that's if they don't break.

( considering he has to find the right victims to suffer through it, but he thinks it'd be fun to show it off to the other. it was hard work on add's part, he's sure, how much time the other put into his inventions, and he'd hate for them to break over something avoidable within the escape room, and so he'll do his best to keep them intact. )

...Is it creativity, I just want to see the hope in my peers blossom above all else. That's why I'm here, after all. If they can overcome such trials that could kill them, only to survive, their hope will grow even brighter! That's why I'm doing this.

( and to figure out something specific, but he doesn't think of mentioning it. though, he wears a thoughtful expression wondering if it'll actually do the job, and with a shrug of his shoulders: ) I have to do this.

[Ranger nods in agreement to checking it out with a small "sure, I wanna see" acquiescing to that as easily as he seems to everything else. He didn't do anything he didn't want to, but he often seemed content to go along with Komaeda came up with. But after letting him finish, the doll stares for several seconds, a perfectly blank expression that reveals nothing about what he's thinking. The motivation is different, but the general concept is familiar. It doesn't surprise him, the guy clearly had about as much self esteem as a doll had blood, but there's something about the way that it's worded that bothers him.

But it's a little nostalgic too. How many hours and days and years had gone into planning the game? How much thought, how many resources, how much death? ]

Hmm, you think so? I don't see why you'd need to.

[ He cocks his head to one side. So, he didn't need to, but he wanted to run a little experiment? ]

That's really all you want?

Edited 2021-11-17 08:01 (UTC)

Ah... did I talk aloud again?

( his mistake, he laughs sheepishly about it. ) For hope, I always need to, but I want them to have fun as well. Last time I played in an escape room... it was a life or death situation, if I didn't my classmates would have all died.

( well, not all of them, half of them had already kicked the bucket, and there was already a murder on their hands — to find the truth of that place though, someone had to test their luck, and it's not like any of them owned this unfortunate talent of his, or even the thought process to pass it. even their teacher during their school trip was at a loss considering she too was locked inside, how annoying. )

I won't allow anyone to, but I guess I do fail the job as a Mastermind if I don't, but such despairing actions aren't worth it! You know, killing people just to kill is...

( his hand squeezes ranger's tightly, he doesn't realize it though, and it takes him a moment to calm down because he realizes that he's become frustrated, that his brows furrow, and his face hurts from an not as familiar expression used to explain his feelings. ) Don't ever let yourself fall into despair, okay, Ranger-kun!? If you fell, I think... I'd be upset.

( and komaeda hardly has the emotional capacity to be upset, at this rate, he doesn't even know what upset really is aside from showing his displeasure. )

[ He's seen that look before. He's seen it on the participants' faces. The unique kind of frustration that comes with realizing that one's life is just a game. They were all pieces on the chessboard, each life lost just another piece that was tipped over and captured. He's seen it hundreds of times, in simulation after simulation, but even now he doesn't understand it.

But he likes Komaeda, so he listens quietly, and he waits until he's finished to return that squeeze, gentle and reassuring. He knows how to do that much because Safalin had done it for him. Does it matter if he in particular falls to despair? He's not sure. It may be that he just touched on a sore spot. ]

That won't happen, 'cause you'd just smack me upside the head if I started to. You'll look out for me, 'cause I'm gonna look out for you.

[ It's worded as though it should be a joke, but it doesn't seem to be. The card doesn't move, nor does his expression give any hint of his thoughts, but it's the same matter-of-fact answer that he often gives when stating a simple fact. They were partners, after all. But that gaze is still there, focused in a way that it isn't normally.

The cards get tucked away for just a moment. Just long enough for him to reach out and pat Komaeda's head. Gashu had done that once. He remembers it being reassuring. It told him that his father loved him. Ranger's not really sure why he repeats that motion here, save that he doesn't like the pained look on Komaeda's face. ]

... You'll do better. Your game will be better, and it'll succeed. So, it doesn't matter if you're a success by the metrics of another person's game.

[ It'll be better than the one he endured, and it'll be better than theirs. It sounded like it had all gone off the rails anyway. ]

( it's surprising, feeling ranger's hand on his head, patting atop fluffy, white locks that probably hasn't been properly brushed in days. more peculiar that komaeda looks up trying to see the other's hand before willingly leaning into his touch. he doesn't know what about the head patting that he likes, or maybe it's the words said with it that makes the gesture worth his while. despair is meeting someone at their lowest, if it wins, they're at a state of no return if they lost all hope, and as for ranger, the concept of hope is still lost upon them from what komaeda can tell.

that's why he won't let ranger know how to despair, not until there's something beneficial from it like his hope — his eyes close during the interaction, after a moment, he'll stand up correctly. )

Yeah, I'll always look out for you... You're my partner, and I want to see your hope! ( on an annoyingly lighter note, ) I'm the Grim Reaper after all, I've been waiting for you for such a long time!

( he teases as a joke, but it's true, as someone who decides how useful lives are and aren't, he wants to see what comes out of ranger — there's things he can do because he's here, and things that he can't, but komaeda's always been interested in the impossible. )

Hm... Even if it fails, I think what comes out of it is what matters... as long as bonds grow, that they can rely on each other, perhaps that sort of hope could do some good here.

( even if they strive to kill one another after it, but seeing them in the moment is what's important to him. he pauses now when they're close to the classroom where the robotics club is meant to have everything together, and without even any warning, he releases ranger's hand to throw his arms around their neck, and his cheek rests on their head. soft hair... he rubs like a dog, and this is easier for him because he's initiating it as the annoying peer, but he lingers before letting go. )

Thank you. ( for validating his insanity, rather. )

[ He rolls his eyes at the comment. Even if it were true, it wouldn't have been that long when he was only created three years ago. Despite that, the card is switched out for a toothy, open mouthed grin and -- ]

Yeah, well, y'got me now.

[ He swaps it out for the ice cream cone. Komaeda might have picked up on the fact that, compared to the others, that one was fairly versatile - sometimes he used it for some explicit purpose, but it was just as often a "safe" option for when he wasn't quite sure what emotion he might want to express. But he nods in agreement with him. Those kind of bonding exercises were commonly used for a reason.

This is all immediately before he registers Komaeda letting go of his hand and has all of a couple of seconds to question the reason behind that before he's tilting slightly to one side, sputtering and floundering as his partner holds him in place while rubbing his face against him. Somewhere in the midst of that he switches to the embarrassed frown, but at some point he stopped seriously struggling... No, he just stopped minding it. But the card remains there for a moment after he lets go, and his eyes drop to the ground before the ice cream cone returns as he looks back up, unsure of what to do with that. ]

Oh... Sure. S'what I'm here for.

[ He won't listen to stupid or annoying ideas, but he's comfortable enough being a sounding board. He lets that hang for a moment more he starts looking between the entrance and Komaeda. He's coming, right? ]

( in the hall where no one can see, and that way ranger doesn't have to explain himself, it's all according to plan, or whatever going on in komaeda's mind. he's surprised the other didn't let go of the balloons, and that they float up to the ceiling lost to them both, but maybe that's a good thing — it gauges that the other isn't too bothered by this like at the start where he probably wanted to throttle komaeda for even trying. the only problem he has is hearing things like "you got me now" and "what i'm here for," it normally sounds too good to be true, and that's why he looks at ranger briefly before taking a step inside.

he's only came this far because the other tagged along. )

Helllloooooo?

( he calls into the room, wondering if anyone that they know is inside, because normally they'd tell komaeda to shut up, and keep quiet. he could, but he just chooses not to, and then he glances back to ranger to see where he decides to head first. it seems like for all of komaeda's plotting to hug ranger outside, he could have just done it in here considering there's no one around either. )

I don't think anyone's here, you don't mind being alone with just me, do you? I understand trash like myself must ruin your mood...

[ Ranger tilts his head when Komaeda looks at him, trying to figure out if he'd said something strange. His language had been shifting. He can compare it and note that he's shifted more of his usual banter with Safalin onto his interactions with Komaeda, and adopted more of the mannerisms that he heard in passing. Maybe it was just unpleasant to hear from him... Ah, well. There was no helping that, given who and what he is.

When he asks his question, Ranger looks at Komaeda as though he'd just asked if there was water in the ocean. But as is always his way, he answers in the simplest and most straightforward way possible. ]

Huh? Why would I? I'd just leave if I didn't wanna be around you. Besides, I don't really like being around a lot of people.

[ Both in the sense of that there weren't many people he actually enjoyed being around and that he didn't like crowded spaces with unfamiliar people. It was easier for him to just deal with one or two people at a time.

He takes a few steps forward as he scans the room, having switched back to the open-mouthed grin by now, before seeming to lock in on one in particular. ]

Huh. Isn't this the one you mentioned before?

[ Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island... Seems to be the right one. ]

11/08 - 11/13 Cultural Festival

OOC

WOW HOW DARE YOU it's fine we can just turn him into a doll, worked for another human

STOP NOT ANOTHER HUMAN its fine thats for that other human personally hes living a grand life

LOOK IT'S FINE we can have two humans who are just living their best life in 50%+ doll bodies

komaeda already cut off his hand, he's living more of a cyborg life its fine...

look js if somebody told me i could have a cool robot body i'd take it

OK komaeda would too but listen hes too much of trash ... scrap metal no one would fix him

it's fine ranger will repair him, they're both trash so they can take care of each other

RANGER HASNT EVEN REPAIRED HIMSELF!!!! can you repair whats already damaged

IT'S FIIIIIIINNEEEEE we're going to repair ranger so clearly you can

STPPP listen if shin could edit komaeda, komaeda would not be komaeda

it's fine ranger will make sure no one touches him except to maybe make him like 10% less komaeda

STOP you can make komaeda not komaeda, he has to stay this way!!

look it'd just be a LITTLE less komaeda, he'd never even miss it!!!

STOPP HE WOULDNT EVEN KNOW HES MISSING IT!!! turn him into midori maybe and then u have a deal

NO ONE OF MIDORI IS ALREADY TOO MANY

STOPPPP GIVE KOMAEDA HIS HOUSEHUSBANDS AESTHETIC

alright but he gets ranger as his shin stand in for balance, bad luck

did you see how he who must not be named suffered bc of shin? komaeda will not be caught slippin

what are you talking about?? that was sara that made him suffer, he had a great time with shin

shin was just a worm in his brain

that is true they were just bad for each other in the end

THEY WERE THEY FED SUMN W/IN THEM maybe he who must not be named wasnt the criminal

i think nankidai is the real criminal since he made both of them

i think his mind was onto sumn he knows the ideal types to marry

u rite... they're peak husband material, especially he who must not be named