yogen | npc contact.3

[ Without answering that request, Maya stands up immediately, like she can't wait to get away. Except she lingers after stepping to the side of the bench, smoothing her dress down at her sides. ]

You don't need help carrying anything?

[ It'd be two bento boxes and maybe a thermos, she imagines, but she can't shake off that nagging, irritated feeling of somebody doing everything for her while she sits and does nothing, like a princess or a doll. ]

You really hate being spoiled, don't YOU.

( Just an observation, because it's not an excuse to spend more time with him, and he rises after her. Two bentos and a thermos it is indeed, so it'll be a little much, but it's not that bad?

... )

I'd be happy to have your compaNY. Let's be off THEN.

( Tough or not, she'd prefer to help him anyway, so he won't say no. Even if all he wants to do is let her breathe a little.

Back down stairs a little bit to grab food, then all the way to the top they go. )

[ She can breathe and be productive at the same time— that productivity is more comfortable, anyways, or she might confuse having nothing to do with not being able to do anything.

Back downstairs and if it's a warm thermos she'll carry that to leech the warmth off it, otherwise she'll take the boxes, making her way to the edge of the roof facing the front gates instead of the rest of campus so that when they look out into the horizon, all they see is trees and trees and trees in a sea of red. ]

( She can have the thermos, he'll carry the boxes, and he doesn't mind the spot she picks especially because she already said she won't push him off the roof.

Today's menu is... voila, the little ghost is a chicken dumpling. Thermos has green tea in it, we're healthy today.

... )

I've always wondered THIS, Little Wolf, but presumably the rest of you have somewhere to go home TO. ( Versus them who live in the school, unfortunately. ) Yet all I've ever been able to see are TREES.

( and

well, anyway. )

...How far do you have to WALK?

( or maybe the better question is: does she see the same thing as him? sprawling red.

or maybe they all live in trees, like the spirits in the wisteria, anything is possible. )

[ Maya opens the bento cover, closes her eyes, and covers it back up. Having heard enough from Hiro every other day, she isn't at all surprised to see something like this, but it's still... So Much. Still cute, though, in the way stuffed animals are cute but you've entered high school and now you're too old for them so they sit on a high shelf instead of beside your pillow. At least she'd understand it in Hiro's case; sometimes you have to cut carrots into flowers to convince a small child or twin brother to eat their vegetables.

...she carefully picks up one of the cat's hats with her chopsticks to eat without breaking up the rest of the cat. ]

Not so far that coming here on a Sunday would have been more trouble than it's worth. You'll be able to see for yourself someday, considering you've made it up to the roof. Just keep doing what you're doing.

( Okay, he's taking notes to do something less cute for her next time. He thought the cats suited the two of them, though, even if he calls her a wolf. Also, it's seasonal! Halloween is in a week! He wasn't going to give her candy, she'd just give it to Hiro.

And what, not dying? Sure, easy. He stares out at the sea of red, knows he won't, and cuts the white cat with his chopsticks. )

Not without glasSES, though it feels a little silly to wear them when it'll only help one EYE. ( ...

He picks up one of the egg rolls on the side and holds it over his good eye, mouth quirking to the side. ) How would I look with a monoCLE?

[ She barely spares him a glance before looking away, staring down at the ground with a twist of the lips that's not quite anger, not quite sadness, but something in between and upset all the same. ]

...don't joke about that.

[ Maybe it's his way of coping, but... It's not her place to berate him, nor judge him for his choices, but... but. It's hard not to have an opinion, to feel fear and concern for somebody who cannot see in one eye and will soon lose sight in the other as well, who wasn't born into a world of darkness and will have to relearn the world again, eyes closed under a field of stars with only the rustle of grass and a voice to guide him. It would be too easy to be attacked on his blind side, and there will be people who will know this and will take advantage of it. All that besides...

How is he supposed to see the smiles he works so hard to bring to people's faces?

She doesn't voice the question, doesn't think she needs to, because there's no way he hasn't thought that already himself. But she can think it, and hurt for it. ]

( ...

He puts his egg roll back onto his bento, lips pressing tightly together, and leans over to brush the spot between her eyes with his thumb. )

Don't look like THAT. I'm not a complete iDIOT. As soon as I made this deal I knew what I'd have to DO, and who I'd have to talk TO. Only a few people know or have even noticed a differENCE.

( The smile loosens a bit. )

One of my roommates is BLIND, so she's been teaching me how to hone my other senSES. I'll never be on par with HER, considering she was born IT, but I'm learning as fast as I CAN. I'm a very good actor otherWISE.

( For now. Just for now, and he pulls away from her, conscious he's touched her without asking and without real reason aside from an involuntary desire to smooth the ill-feelings from her mind. )

Sorry for messing aROUND. Sometimes I feel like if I don't make light of IT, I'll suffoCATE. ( He wasn't lying, after all, when he snapped at her earlier in the month.

He does, a little, regret the trade, for all of the reasons she worries about and more; but he's gained Haruka more permanently in the meanwhile, a confidant in Helena, and if he stays his course and works as he can, if he puts that trust in a few other people and figures out other ways to deal with his blindness before it befalls him, he'll be fine. It'll have been worth it, in the end.

Even if he can't see the smiles he works so hard for, and even if he won't see that cute face she makes he loves so much. ) Let's play twenty questions and change the mood a little, shall WE? You can go FIRST.

[ "Change the mood," he says, when that question is still on her mind, when that spot between her eyes still burns even after Natsume takes his hand back. When a part of her has too many questions and another part can't think of a single one, aware that this is an opportunity to dig for information (but what does he know that she doesn't?) or to learn more about him (but isn't it a waste of time, when none of that matters?) or just... lighten the mood (not something she's good at, nor is she sure this is the right thing to do). ]

...What are you learning from your roommate?

[ In the end, she can't just sit there and do nothing, when there's a problem right in front of her. ]

( ...Good, she asked something. Natsume pretends his thumb doesn't burn from where he touched her and focuses on picking at his food instead, running through Helena's basic lesson plan in his mind before he speaks. )

How to pull my focus into my other senses for ONE, rather than just relying purely on SIGHT. Closing my eyes and making me identify noiSES, or giving me an object and telling me to describe how it FEELS... Things like THAT.

When it's particularly quiet we'll go on walks and she'll ask me to listen to how sound interacts with the world—I believe this is how she manages to gauge distance with her CANE, and while I don't know if I'll ever want ONE...

( Because that'd make it obvious, right? Too obvious. )

Well, it's sure to be useful to me anyWAY. She's working on having me familiarize myself with my surroundings too—mentally mapping rooms and such—and, ah, we just started basic braille not too long aGO. You won't have to worry about my grades dipping aNY, Miss Student Council President. I'll be fluent before you know IT.

( Maybe. )

That's a fairly broad explanation of it all THOUGH.

...Well, it's good that you're making preparations and taking it seriously.

[ But there's also something about ready acceptance from a person who's supposed to make miracles happen. Or maybe that's just Maya's off-based idea of what a magician does.

She eats the other cat's hat. Going to unaccessorize in bits and pieces and leave the cats for last instead of eating everything equally. ]

Go ahead and ask.

( Sometimes you have to make small sacrifices for things that'll work out in time, like swallowing your pride and bowing your head to write a story where the "monsters" become heroes and win their happiness over the treacherous angels who demonize them, or like making friends with people you can't stand to rewrite a narrative into something nicer sounding to inspire rather than scare those that come after, or like having less and less time to spend with the people you love, doing the things you love, because all your other plans and foundations for the future take up all of your time, and even though you try so, so hard to not keep making the same mistakes, you still do--

well, those kinds of sacrifices. Sometimes they're necessary.

It's hard to figure out a question though, a plethora of choice, and-- really, the last time he ever brought this up they didn't speak for weeks (though there was a little more to that, too), so he's a little hesitant, but. It's been on his mind, seeing that guy again. )

...What was your relationship with Seki-senpai?

( He'll put it in the past tense, for her. )

Edited 2021-11-17 19:50 (UTC)

[ Immediately he goes for a personal question, Maya not bothering to hide her displeasure with a furrow of her eyebrows. ]

...We were friends, but not anymore. He's a liar.

[ "I do not trust Kouji Seki and neither should you." or something like that. ]

Why do you care?

( What are dates but opportunities to get to know one another personally. )

It's been on my mind since I saw him again last MONTH. ( A small shrug. ) I understand exactly how you felt interacting with me at the beginning of the year now, by the WAY. I'm sorry for the trouBLE.

( Kouji and Chiaki are such headaches... )

Hiro-kun and I talked about him a week or so ago too--raTHER, he came up as a topic of conversation because of what we were speaking about THEN...

( ... )

What's your favorite BOOK?

[ Yeah. He sure was a nightmare and a half to not explain things to. ]

Watership Down. What were you and Hiro talking about?

( He would've left her alone sooner. )

TalLIES. Why is it your favorITE?

[ There's a very sharp glance thrown his way at the mention of tallies, as taboo a topic that that is, another point of dissension between transfer students and those who've been here. ]

It's an epic about a group of rabbits finding a better place for themselves.

[ Most importantly, rabbits. To say nothing about the themes of leadership and the dangers of the world. ]

What did you think about Hiro's tallies?

( oh my god they are the only ones up here )

Don't give me that LOOK. I always let him know he doesn't have to answer me if he doesn't want TO, but he did anyWAY.

( but what did he think... )

Three is a good numBER. It's auspicious in maGIC, and it's still low enough that if by some miracle he wanted to make FRIENDS, people wouldn't give him a wide BERTH. Being your brother aSIDE. One of them is from when he stabbed Seki-senpai, but that's about all I KNOW.

( honestly. )

Why does it matter what I THINK?

[ And when Natsume and Hiro were talking, were they the only ones there? As if Hiro would take "you don't have to answer if you don't want to" if he's with somebody he knows and trusts. ]

Because he's my brother. [ And Natsume is Natsume. ] If you thought badly of him, I would have to retract my statement about not pushing you off the roof. So I'll rephrase: what do you think of Hiro, knowing his tallies?

[ Not his situation, not how people will react towards him, just Hiro himself. ]

...My opinion of him hasn't changed just because I know how many tallies he HAS.

( but okay. )

He's a quiet young man with an incredibly overprotective older TWIN, who wants to have friends and trust peoPLE. Simple, but that's what I like about HIM. Despite the fact he doesn't like speaKING, I have a good time talking with HIM, and I'm touched he considers me a FRIEND. ( ... ) His art is very nice and I'd like to draw with him again someTIME, though my skills pale in compariSON.

( and none of that has to do with if those tallies are from dying or from killing or anything. natsume sets his chopsticks down and leans back on his hands, expression slightly guarded. )

Do you think differently of me knowing my talLIES?

[ She's the normal amount of protective, thank you

It's still not exactly what she's asking, but it's better than the alternative. Simple, trusting, one would almost fall into the trap of thinking he isn't a threat, if the tallies on his wrist didn't warn of his capability. ]

Yes.

[ But, quite the opposite from him, Maya looks a little more relaxed, turning her attention back to her food. ]

He'll be happy to have somebody else to draw with. Why don't you ask him?

( ...Maybe he's just never going to understand her. He doesn't answer right away, trying to decide if it's a good thing or a bad thing that she does; but the look on her face is nicer than before... but that doesn't mean anything, sometimes.

He sighs, slow and soft, picks his chopsticks back up after a long moment, and starts arranging pieces of rice on his bento lid. )

I'll get too competiTIVE. ( Which sounds SO STUPID, he's looking very hard at what he's doing now. ) Are you going to keep asking after your broTHER? We only have four questions each left after you answer this ONE.

[ She makes a noise that's either a laugh or a scoff or both, because that is stupid. ]

Yes.

[ Very easy question to answer, much easier when it's not about her. ]

He's important to me, after all. And you needn't worry, because he hates competition and would sooner draw on your picture to make it both of yours. [ She glances over at Natsume picking at his food, then looks away ] He likes tamagoyaki, and will eat snow peas without much of a fuss, so can you include those more often?

( Despite himself, trying to stay irritated at her, the scoff-laugh-both makes him blink and smile a bit; he forces it back down, meticulously placing rice grain after rice grain.

...He also doesn't sound half as disgruntled as before; more bemused than anything, he's terrible at staying mad at people who don't deserve it. )

You're the worst to play anything WITH. I'll be sure to—it's getting colder THOUGH, so maybe I'll make some snow pea soup inSTEAD...

( As if it isn't getting cold already; not so much the afternoon, really, but in general. )

And that was a reQUEST, not a quesTION, so you can still ask something ELSE.

It was a question.

[ Asked that way on purpose, because she is the worst to play with but she will still follow the rules. She never was very interested in asking Natsume questions unless she needed something, which was rare that she did and couldn't find the answer herself, and he might get the sense that she and Hiro don't talk much during meals. ]

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