Entry tags:

bulletin board updates

✽ There are several new points of interest at the bulletin board this month, most prominently a wooden box with the slit on the top just large enough to drop a sheet of paper inside. Above is an explanation of Secret Santa and a form to fill out for those interested in participating to write down their name, homeroom, and locker number. Sign-ups close on 12/5, and following assignments, gifts may be given in person or through one of the student council members if anonymous gifting is preferred (contact the mod to hire a stuco elf).
✽ Right next to this box is a poster with a large orange giraffe painted on it. The contents of the poster has nothing to do with giraffes, but rather, is an advertisement for student store commissions featuring quality work with quick turnarounds and a special discount for the month of December if you buy five or more commissions, or bring the shopkeep a warm drink and maybe a snack while they're working.
✽ To the side of the class roster and current ranks is a digital countdown, and scrawled on the bulletin board itself is the message "You're almost there! You can do it! One more push!" but it's unclear whether this message refers to the countdown to the new year, or to the long glass tube situated along the edge of the bulletin board next to it. Maybe both. The tube looks similar to a graduated cylinder, holding a total volume of 5000 ml and currently containing 4850 ml of dark red (presumably) blood, hot to the touch. It can not be broken or removed. The mod will be in contact if any character action this month causes the volume to change.
✽ A neatly typed notice, half buried under all the other announcements, contains a reminder that tuition will be due soon for those students continuing to study at Yogen. If tuition is not paid in full by the end of February, "compensation" will be taken instead.
✽ And finally, there is a notice from the student council that proof of club activity is once again due for submission to the student council by 12/24, otherwise the club will be dissolved and resources taken back. Please submit activity proof to the toplevel below.

12/20 - 12/24 finals week

✽ The week before winter break is finals, with many students cramming as many math formulas and foreign country leaders into their heads as possible without it all spilling over, while other students have decided to chance the practicum instead. Those who have signed up for the practicum are asked to meet inside the auditorium after homeroom at the start of the day while test takers begin their written exams. Students are allowed to change their minds on which to take, up until the end of homeroom on Monday, after the bell rings and the doors close.
✽ For the test takers, finals last for five days, from 8AM until noon each day, after which students are allowed to go home, or have lunch and continue studying in their homerooms or in the library. At the end of finals on Friday, students are asked to remain in their homerooms over lunch break while their exams finish being graded, after which homeroom teachers will return and ask certain students to go with them to the faculty office. These are the failing students. Which the homeroom teachers themselves have the pleasure of executing for their failures. All other students are dismissed and wished a happy winter break.
✽ For those opting for the practicum, finals last for two days, from 8AM until noon on Monday and Tuesday. All students from all grades meet in the auditorium the first day and are told the very simple rules for this semester's practicum: in order to raise your failing grade, all you have to do is kill another student, upon which you take their points for yourself. At the start of both days, students first gather in the auditorium for a headcount and then are given a half hour no-killing grace period during which they are allowed to scatter and find the best sniping/ambushing/hiding spots. The hunt is limited to four hours each day and kills must be done on campus; any kills done outside of these parameters are just for fun and do not count towards their final grade. Points are given for kills involving students in the same grade level of different homerooms (e.g. third years only benefit from killing other third years) and points are revoked for kills involving other grade levels or test takers not participating in the practicum. They studied hard, leave them alone. Most students need only one or two kills to pass, but multiple kills stack and earn them extra credit that will carry over to the next semester. Students who end the second day with a still failing grade will be called to the faculty office. ... All remaining students are dismissed and wished a happy (early!) winter break.
✽ A winter storm starts to whip up around noon on the 24th, raging through the night before settling down come morning, blanketing the entire campus with several feet of snow.

OOC

✽ PC faculty still have finals: they will either take written exams excluding that of their own subject, or they can take the practicum. Players with faculty characters are asked to reply to the toplevel below to indicate the number of failed students per class, but characters do NOT have to ICly be responsible for killing failed students. Unless they're cool with that, and if so, please let me know.
✽ This is a reminder that for any character that murders (again, please let me know), they will experience the same pain the following night and lose powers/abilities for one week. Two weeks after the murder, +1 tally and +100 merit points will be awarded for each kill.
✽ The void in the auditorium continues to grow, and (pending character interaction) by the end of the month will encompass the entire right wing of all floors, including the locker area but not the rooftop. Please mind the void, murderers.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Rio looks from behind and to the side of Komaeda, and as far as he can tell the nurse isn't present to disrupt their efforts. He's largely deferring to Komaeda here, having limited knowledge on the subject and being unable to bleed himself, the opportunity didn't come up often. ]

Whatchya need?

[ Rio has an idea, but he wants to confirm anyway. ]

This is a once in a lifetime opportunity!

( he's going to sit down on one of the cots, hands on his lap as he watches rio who seems to keep his eyes on him, and this is what komaeda should be used to by now. kicking his legs back and forth, his eyes glance over to a bottle of what seems to be needles, sterilized scalpels, and things of that matter. )

I need you to stab me, if I do it... I can't say I'll be able to hold myself back.

( which is the truth considering the amount of time he disassociates, he's prone to harming himself more than he should — a scalpel is enough that when he draws his arm back, gouging out his eye is an idea, and then stabbing completely through his hand once brought down is also up for grabs. he doesn't let rio know that though, komaeda finds that being honest about his... issues in that manner serves too many problems, so he likes to appear accident prone. )

Too excited!

[ It's as he thought, but Rio is glad for the confirmation. He walks over and flicks his forehead. He keeps it light, not wanting to hurt him as much as to offer a small reminder. ]

Still need you.

[ That's all he says before he collects a scalpel from the bottle. It's hidden behind the ice cream cone that he uses, but there's a slight frown. He doesn't care for this idea. Strange, he thinks for the first time, since even now he found amusement in such things - even a person tripping and falling flat on their face or scraping a knee warranted a laugh. Strange, but not unsurprising when this was his partner. But it is surprising, because he wasn't programmed to feel this way about him. ]

Stabbing seems excessive. D'ya really need that much more than a papercut?

[ He tucks his card away out of necessity rather than desire, that little twitch of a frown reappearing. There's really no good place to cut or stab a person either. Humans really are fragile. ]

...

( not what he was expecting of him to say, but it gives komaeda some pause — need him, yes, because they're partners, so rio would do what he could to avoid the inevitable end by his hands, whereas if needed, komaeda would kill him, but komaeda's also willing to kill himself, and so there's nothing special. he does look at the other's back as he walks to the scalpel, and when he turns back around, komaeda's eyes fall to the ground. he didn't have to say that...

rio's thoughtful when it comes to this, as for komaeda, he would have just stabbed without an hesitation because he doesn't care — people's hope will help them overcome, lead them to new truths, and that's why he takes things as they come. this would be bad for him, and so good luck would weigh out afterwards, but he doesn't believe he'd die so hopelessly, he's only curious, and so he couldn't be lucky enough to bleed out — hm, perhaps rio's bad luck... )

Ahaha...

( so he knows how this works? he doesn't recall going to the void with rio, but it is information easily learned within the group. the worst part is that he doesn't answer, holding out his organic hand that already suffers from various cuts from old situations that have no need to be in the conversation, if rio wanted, he could follow one of them, cut him there and use the blood that forms.

komaeda isn't against a stab through the entirety of his hand, so it's rio's choice. )

Or you can cause harm to yourself. ( his fingers roll over his palm, now hiding his palm. ) Well?

[ Rio heaves out a sigh. ]

If I had any blood, I would. C'mon, I gotchya.

[ The Floormasters all had a strong sense of self-preservation, but none of them were so fragile as to not be able to handle something like this. Miley had taken a pretty good bang to the head, and Safalin could cut herself without flinching just to demonstrate their products. The ideal was taking that of somebody who didn't matter, but barring that one could always trust themselves more to get a job right than others, and that included drawing blood. Alas, that's not an option here, so he has to settle for doing the job correctly in this manner.

He takes Komaeda's hand. His grip is firm enough to avoid any twitching or fidgeting, but he's watching for any signs of movement as he works - intentional or otherwise, most people were incapable of holding still. He waits for him to uncurl his fingers, and once he does Rio stares at the marks on his hand, considering how many he has. There's no denying that he's had a lot of injuries in the past. He already knew that, but this brings it to the front of his mind once more.

He wishes Safalin were here. She would be better for this. Rio was good enough at delicate work, but he had all the textbook knowledge and little of the practical experience and muscle memory that could only be developed by working with patients for years. Even so, he's as careful and precise as ever, and he does a good enough job of making a shallow cut on Komaeda's hand, doing no more or less than should be needed for their purposes. ]

( he stares with a open mouth smiled, delighted at the coolness of a blade cutting into the palm of his hand as rio works, and once done, he can feel his hand burn. he bends his fingers a bit towards the inside of his palm, nails digging into the small wound just to see how much damage he can instigate here — it'll become sore, raw if he does this, but he looks around the room to find a perfect spot.

laying on the cot properly, he reaches down to brush his hand against the floor, allowing for the world to warp as the vertigo sets in, and everything around them slowly decaying, breaking down into they shift to a darker world. everything looks as if they're ready to crumble from the slightest touch — even the bed looks dirty and used, flaking off on the sides, and everything else around them is shattered, or appears to be broken. komaeda removes his hand from the floor, leaning up perfectly as he looks at rio to make sure he's fine —

yeah, he would be, which if what he'd expect, but he stands up properly now, his prosthetic behind his back, along the width as he uses his organic to point towards the ceiling — leaaaaans back to pop it, and he does a pretty good job, it sounds nice. )

Hm... the bulletin board was on the left side, so... that's thoroughly taken from us, unfortunately.

( he's pretty sure if his memory serves correct, but he stops to look at his partner to see how he'd like to move forward, as long as they stay on the right side, they'll avoid running into the void. )

[ Rio notices that smile, the way that he digs into the wound, the way that he goes out of his way to ruin his efforts to use care. His eyes fix on that sight for a long moment and while his expression doesn't noticeably change, there's a little twitch of his shoulders. Rio was doing better in this place, where people mistook him as a person and he wasn't under the constant stress of interacting with the other Floormasters and their obsession with the participants, but there were pieces of that old life that remained.

He's not human. He was promised positive emotions, and yet, that was a job that had yet to be completed. Rio still burns with envy, wanting nothing more than to have just a little bit of what others have. If he had a life, he wouldn't waste it. If he had a life, he would treasure it, cling to it, utilize every second of every day. It's all he wants, his one singular wish, but it's one that can never be fulfilled. It drags up an unpleasant memory of that girl, somebody so precious, somebody crafted from birth, perfectly catered to, and yet she--

The eyes card comes up, hiding the top half of his face for several seconds before it switches back to the open-mouthed grin, as though those feelings had never been there at all. They tear at the back of his mind, reminding him of every insecurity and every flaw (he couldn't even want to die - he was specifically programmed as such that he never could, no matter how much of a hellish nightmare his life might be.) He looks around the room slowly, taking a few steps in each direction as he commits each and every single detail of the room to memory.

It's far shoddier than he'd expected, but then again, he'd never seen a place like this before. He looks up, then down, taking that in as well. It's no doubt in his nature to do such things - memorizing details, layouts... There was nothing he could do except try to take in as much as possible. ]

Hm, that's kind of a pain. So, what do you suggest? As long as we're here, might as well check it out.

[ Though Rio supposes it's only new to him, but one could only learn more by reviewing the same material over and over. ]

( that's the second time he's seen that card — the one's that he wonder if rio can actually see out of them or not, and yet he never gets a chance to satiate that curiosity because just as fast as it came, it leaves all the same to instead swap to another card to cover his mouth. what does that one mean, out of all the one's he has seen, that one rarely makes an appearance, but he doesn't mention it yet, instead files that for later, and stands up — he wonders if it's something about the capabilities of a human, or their reasoning. last time it was have they become numb, and now, it's right after komaeda's act of worsening his palm.

he'll watch out for it more, but he makes no move to question it yet, and instead watches how the other wanders off to take in his surroundings of the nurse's office. ah, as he looks at the cut of his arm, and the blood on the floor, he quickly gets up as he steadily remembers; because he's here, because it's his blood that's on the floor — )

Anywhere but here will be fine, you've memorized it all, right?

( his hand clenches tightly, trying to stem the blood from dripping onto the floor since there's already a nice smear there. walking to the exit of the nurse's office, he looks back towards rio to make sure that he's following along, and due to his luck, with how the other dedicates things to memory, it means that he hasn't been here yet — and how could he when he doesn't bleed, apparently?

he moves forward, sticking his head out the room to check their surroundings, and he notices a student that walks the hall — just a shadow with no physical appearance. they seem to be wandering towards this area, and due to komaeda's body make-up, he's nothing more than another corpse to the people in the void, their festering desire to do away with him when he's bleeding, and it'll only take so much time until another appears, and then another, and then... )

Once you've learned enough, I'll teach you how to leave this place.

[ Rio nods. If his information is correct, he thinks that the way to leave is breaking a mirror; however, he doesn't object to being told. Truthfully, he'd just gotten a quick starter on information on this place though, so the accuracy and practical use were limited. He was learning from others, but that took time, and it was difficult when there were so many other factors at play.

He focuses on the present, stepping out ahead now. He glances to him for direction, but otherwise seems to assume he'll be stopped if needed. He takes Komaeda's prosthetic hand as he does so. He'll adjust his pace to something manageable for Komaeda, and adjust based on the movement of his arm and the sound of his footsteps. That is one of the things he does miss about his previous partner. Safalin could move quickly when she wanted to. With Komaeda, he's pretty sure that if there's ever a need to move that quickly he's going to just have to toss him over his shoulder or something.

He remains cognizant of that shadow, but it's not hard to see his eyes flicking around once more as he moves along. ]

Yeah, got it.

[ It's not quite like him to pull forward in unknown situations, where he was more inclined to defer to somebody who knew what was going on (which was the logical choice even now.) But perhaps his next question will offer a little clarification on that - ]

You okay?

( his pattern of getting around is as what rio knows, komaeda takes his time, not seeing himself in a hurry, but he's not slow about it by any means; he's very his pace. as the other takes his hand, komaeda's eyes widen for a moment as he's brought along because he didn't expect it so soon, maybe later, but not now. most of the time, komaeda will walk ahead or walk slow, never at the same pace as another person, and that's taking his luck into account. what if something happens in front of him, or behind him, and his thoughts are maybe it'll terrorize him first before the other person.

it's how in scary movies people decide to be in the middle because the front and the back would have to be taken down before anyone can reach the center. with one step after the other, his eyes watches the shadow, but not in worry or fear, just curiosity considering the last time he was here with someone. his organic hand squeezes shut, slipping it into his pocket next to hide it from the outside. )

I'm perfectly fine to a degree, but do you remember what I told you last month? ( he turns to look at him as they pass by the first shadow person that wanders the hall, there's a quick twitch when they do, but it doesn't seem willing to bother them; too fascinated with the nurse's office. ) If I told you to stay away from me...

( it's like a test, one he'll have to instill into rio so that he gets the idea, because he does what he wants that's best for himself and his partner. komaeda doesn't fault him for that, but there's no need fighting an enemy that can overwhelm, especially when it can be avoided. )

You know what to do, right?

... Hm.

[ He glances back. It's a little more complicated than knowing what to do. While he doesn't easily comprehend it, no more than he can any supernatural phenomena, he takes it seriously when Komaeda talks about luck. By the same token, Rio doesn't process things like a human does - humans are slow and clumsy in their thoughts, which leads to mistakes, but an AI has no such problems. In terms of pure logical response, there was no match.

How did you reconcile those two factors? How did you meld together something so irrational, so illogical with something that was so thoroughly grounded in the best that human advancements had to offer? Even now, he's not sure. He's not sure, and everything in his nature tells him to look out for his partner. It's like a trust fall on both sides, but neither one of them wants to be the one taking the plunge. ]

I'll take what you say seriously.

[ But Rio won't make any promises. It's the same answer as before. He can make no guarantees, he can only try to figure out who is falling and who is catching at the exact moment that it happens. ]

( is that what he said last time, as komaeda closes his eyes to think back, it doesn't come to him as instantly as he should; but it sounds right, rather it's a... rio ranger thing of him to say. his eyes open slowly, and he understands that this is the way he has to work with their time within the void world where everything remains dark, foreboding, and holds such a negative aura that the ambience always give off a creepy feeling like they're being watched from all sides; or that's the shadows that go to and fro' through the halls. )

If we're separated, don't look for me, and I'll meet you at the rooftop.

( that seems to be the rendezvous point because as they move forward, they'll come to see a few more shadow students walking through the hall, all making their way to the place they just left. it would be fine if the hall's light didn't flicker above them, popping as glass rains down before them, but komaeda wary of his own talent is quick to pause, his hand squeezing the other's tightly to keep him in place as the shattered pieces make home on the floor in front of them.

it's not the only light down the hall, but one hangs high on the ceiling as the right wing is engulfed by a murky darkness, covering everything in it's path. they can go near it if rio's curious, or they can go up the next flight of stairs, but komaeda seems to be looking towards the void as if he's willing to accompany the other to check it out if he wants. )

... Alright.

[ There's a hint of hesitation to that agreement, but he nods to force himself to commit to the idea. Komaeda wasn't a child, nor a dependent; he should be able to handle himself if separated. Besides that, only fools ran around wasting time and inviting further danger by searching for each other. Even so, he has to take in a breath as he considers the idea. It's something about the atmosphere, he supposes - it's oppressive, and the idea of being alone is unsettling in a way that it normally isn't.

He stops when prompted, watching as the shattered glass rains down and falls to the floor. He idly wonders how many tiny shards would get into hair and onto clothes. It was amazing how far shattered glass could go. He looks between the light and the staircase, trying to come to a conclusion. Both options seem to have potential net gains and losses, and so he looks to Komaeda now. He notes the direction that he's looking in, but asks regardless, ]

What do you think?

[ Forward, or up? ]

You can touch it if you want.

( the void, if he's curious about the texture, or how it just feels like an endless black hole that's swallow him up, then he can try; he's seen add climb up from it. he knows that people can and will fly down into it, finding nothing until they come back up. truth be told, he doesn't know how much that would add to rio's data, or if it'd even be useful when he can move to the next floor, and no longer have to suffer the chances of shadow students turning around, and accosting them at the edge of the void. )

Going up would be best, but your interest is what matters too.

( going up the stairs, or having komaeda walk with rio across broken glass that could cause him to slip, the mere chance that he could stumble into the void without anyway to save himself. that, and since the void goes further up, it's not like they have to stay here, since that wouldn't be the smartest option. he's accounting for the shadows, mostly, and he looks up the stairs next. he shouldn't play stupid when he doesn't have to, and so he bumps gently into rio, the direction that probably caters perfectly to them. )

Ready?

[ It's the conclusion he was starting to come to, but having it confirmed for him makes it that much quicker. His interests... Hm. Rio doesn't think that matters much when time is of the essence, and it always is. He nods to Komaeda when he's bumped with a word of affirmation, starting up the stairs without wasting a second more. ]

It's fine, there's always more of interest.

[ Speaking of... Komaeda had more or less said to look until he was content, but he has the sneaking suspicion that it would be ill advised to treat this like a field trip. That aside, he has far more on his mind than just little detour, and it seems as though time is always in short supply. He exhales softly. ]

How much is actually worth seeing here?

[ Everything, of course, but in the immediate term there was only so much that one need see at any given time. He's also occasionally looking to Komaeda, though, to see how he's doing. More practically, he thinks that it's probably not the greatest thing to leave a giant cut like that untreated. If Safalin were here, she no doubt would have tended to that by now... Unfortunately, Komaeda has to settle for him. ]

It depends, checking everything may work out in your favor... once I found important words here, rules halfway smudged out, and who knew it would save a fellow Ultimate's life.

( he was praised for it, and so he finds that you can be rewarded depending on if the hunt proves to be successful. this place works different from what they're used to, right now, it happens to be like an out-of-body experience, and once they leave this place then they'll wake up. whatever they find here won't come back with them, but rio's memory bank will prove more than important if they do. not having to write down or remember information, then making multiple trips back and forth saves them so much time. )

In otherwords; everything, and then nothing.

( the quick turn towards the steps, and komaeda lifts one foot after the other, walking accordingly as he talks. )

This place works perfectly to kill people as long as you know the tricks.

( it's the way rio looks back at him ever so often, seeing that they haven't even ran yet, there's only one thing he could be curious about. his nails are pressed into his palm where the wound is, and he smiles softly thinking he should reassure. )

Don't worry about my hand, Riokun, even being here with me sets off the shadow students.

I'm worried about you.

[ As in, he is concerned about the entire Nagito Komaeda. He does let out a sigh now though, shaking his head. It's correct, but there's a bit more to it. The card flips to the ice cream cone, and a hint of irritation creeps into his voice as he clarifies, ]

I'm used to Safalin taking care of stuff like that.

[ But by now, he has no reason to be following any of those little habits, and so he's frustrated with himself for not thinking to grab something to at least wrap it up in the interim. He's not ignoring the rest, and it's easy to see he's paying close attention to everything, but that weighs on him. He's not allowed to make those kinds of mistakes. But he doesn't want Komaeda to linger on it either, so he's quick to ask a couple follow up questions, ]

Is it a perfect mirror of the school? What do you mean by tricks?

[ He's assuming so, which would mean that any small change there would carry over here, which was in truth the entire point of this little exercise. ]

Edited 2021-12-10 21:16 (UTC)

( it's better that way when rio hurries up their conversation when sensitive subjects are brought up, and he doesn't want him to worry, because there's nothing to worry about. nagito komaeda is disposable for the right and wrong reasons, he's not someone people should cry about, or concern themselves with, he's more of a cushion of their negative emotions so that they'll be able to see a brighter, happier hope, one that's congested of everyone that manages to make something out their future. a hope where the world can be covered by a gracious light, giving purpose to themselves and others, so he doesn't see the need to fall back on someone left in the dark.

there's nothing he can do when he hears safalin's name, she must have been good at taking care of injuries, and dealing with the framework of rio — it makes sense to have a medic on hand. )

Sometimes you find a few interesting things that are different, but that adds to the weirdness of the school.

( he tries to recall how this place works with the version of the school they know, there's little differences, like how there were hidden notes behind the bulletin board, but if they check in their version of the world, there's nothing. )

The water where we reside has blood, but the water here is normal. If someone drops dead here, you can have the shadow students carry them away, and in our world... it's almost as if they died in their sleep. Rather peaceful. You'll stumble upon something here, but it's not in the "real" version of the school... an opened door that leads somewhere, but the moment you break a shard of glass to check... the door was never there.

( as they make it up the flight of stairs, they stand on the second floor where the void still holds onto the right side of the hall, devouring everything in its path. ) The dormitory is the old school building when you come to this side.

[ Rio hums thoughtfully as he takes that in. The school's water was dirty, so this place had clean water, whereas the rest of it was trashed. It sounds as though it isn't quite a mirror image, which works fine for him. He doesn't quite hurry along, as he's unable to do so while keeping a firm grip on Komaeda's hand, but he doesn't seem inclined to linger on any one thing for overlong. This was a tour and not a deep dive. The latter was always easier once a person had a good sense of the structure and layout, and he could pick up both quickly.

As it is, he'll be pushing open any doors he comes across so he can give the room a cursory glance to take in all the details of it and little more. ]

Interesting.

[ It's quite a bit of useful information, and there's a few things he could focus on now. He decides to start with the one that's most likely to get an answer. The card flips to the open-mouthed grin. ]

If you kill someone here, is there evidence of that left here? Y'know, what you'd normally expect from stabbing somebody to death or whatever you did.

[ That seems as though it'd be far too convenient, so he's doubtful, but he asks anyway. ]

It all resets... evidence is gone, so if you make a mess... you have to clean it on the other side.

( as someone who's seen many deaths while having to solve them, komaeda knows the first thing everyone searches for happens to be blood smears that would expose if someone used void mechanics to get by. rio's smart, so komaeda feels that if he did decide to murder, that he would be mindful considering how much data is stored in his mind. he figures that since it's only them here, that he doesn't mind admitting a more risky plan, but he doesn't mind it considering rio must have noticed the way shadow students halt when komaeda walks past them. )

I wondered if I brought someone here, and cut myself worse, would they stampede. ( considering what happened the last time he was brought here with someone, ) It'll be an easy death, throwing them into jaws of those creatures!

( with his free hand, he lifts his hand to point at his head from the side to show he's thinking about it, but he'll be able to see the deep cut in his hand from how he messed with it. messy, dry blood along the palm that stands out against his white skin. )

Isn't it amazing! Such a terrifying amount of bad luck follows me through each and every turn of this place! That means good luck is sure to follow...! It makes me excited to think about!

( his prosthetic holds onto rio's hand a little tighter regardless, he doesn't know that it does, though. he dismisses anything else with a hearty chuckle, and he looks over to the other to reassure him. )

...Ahaha, so you can let go, hearing such depressing things must turn you off...

( in a way, he wants to warn him so that he lets go and avoid anything horrible by his choice alone. )

[ If you make a mess, you have to clean it on the other side... Hm, what a hassle. In that case, a bloodless death might be ideal. For example, strangulation... He thinks a rope would be good for that. Then again, that wouldn't be difficult to do elsewhere either. It was easy enough for him to clean up a corpse. Then again, just shoving somebody in and hitting the on button worked too. It really is a useful tool. He's fond of such ideas, believing that the best murder should be one that no one realized occurred.

Rio keeps his thoughts to himself, finding that it's little more than a fun thought experiment. He finds that Komaeda's thoughts are more interesting than his own, and he stops after the first sentence to give his undivided attention to him, the card flipping back to the ice cream cone. He isn't surprised, but nor is he disappointed, to find that he opts to veer off in a completely different direction. It's not the kind of idea that he would normally come up with... Luck, hm. ]

Not particularly.

[ He keeps his hold on Komaeda's hand, and he gives him a gentle tug to signify that he's going to start walking again once he's finished offering his thoughts. ]

I don't like plans that have a high risk factor myself, so I'd go with something different. But if you could get it right, then I guess it might work. It seems reasonable enough to me.

[ Back to the grin. ]

Well, if somebody lets it happen, it's their own fault, don't you think? If you want to avoid being killed by someone, you should just kill them first.

[ That goes for him too, naturally. He's chosen to trust Komaeda regardless of that. ]

Sometimes... I can't help myself getting into them, I don't mind, because whatever horrible happens, I know I'm owed something good after!

( he laughs as soon as he's tugged in a direction, and he moves, walking along the hall with him that happens to be classrooms. there's not much in them aside from broken tables and desks, nothing that's interesting as they move through, but it's not every day he has someone holding onto his hand making sure he's close by. he glances down at their hands for a moment before looking back up at the orange of rio's hair, staring at the curled tips. )

That said... I wouldn't allow someone to have such a hopeless death, they have to amount to something greater for them! Making sure hope is done correctly is such an easy job! That's why I take care of everyone's here, but if I found myself in a situation where it's killed or be killed...

( that situation with dito was just that, but komaeda decided to drive the spear into himself rather than letting him do it — but people stood in the way, they wasted their time, and if they didn't perhaps komaeda could have been disposed of by now, and he wonders if his death then would have meant anything. instead, he watches an ultimate get hurt, and wasted the time of those involved, and for what? )

I will say the deaths so far have been... interesting so far! Lucifer-kun, ....Dito-kun, Ebalon-kun, and Amami-kun had a spectacular murder! ( he turns to pull rio into a classroom, because while komaeda is carefree, he chooses his own direction as he walks through. )

...There was one person I wanted to kill, she always said, if I killed her, not to leave her alone. I thought about it, I would have stayed and then encased what hope she had left in the frozen room of the principal's office afterwards.

( hm, hm, hm... going to look out the window, and it's just dark outside... )

[ Rio doesn't object when Komaeda takes the lead, easily slipping into stop behind and slightly to one side of him. From his current position he watches what's ahead of his partner, and his vulnerable back. If something was ahead, he could pull them out of the way; if something snuck up behind, he would be the alarm system. With that in mind, he makes a point of listening carefully and looking over his shoulder every so often.

He thinks about it. There had been quite a few bodies piled up when he first showed up. It seemed like a huge mess. It was interesting enough, but he does have to agree with Inaba that at some point it just got stupid to watch people killing each other. It was dull, repetitive, and people always had the same motives. No matter how much make up they put on it it was the same droll few stories each and every time. He has no interest in getting involved with such nonsense. But there was no sense in saying such things, and so he listens to this alternate perspective instead.

But then again, if it were the person in front of him who had decided to follow through on it...

...

He breathes out a single, amused little sound that's nearly inaudible even to his own ears, because it wouldn't even be a question.

He steps up beside Komaeda and likewise looks out the window. ]

Don't all deaths lead to a change in people? You can't always say what kind of impact it'll have in the long term, or what sort of ripple effect it'll have. All deaths sorta seem the same to me in that sense.

[ It's not an objection or a dismissal, but a simple comment. He looks to Komaeda as he says it, though, ice cream cone hiding his face. He seems curious enough. ]

And who was that?

Yes, but not every death is for something as pure as hope.

( simple as that, he has some reservations or perhaps they're hard feelings when the question is asked. perhaps that's from his own perspective, the one where the death he witnessed had turned him into what he is now, a disgrace, a sickness who walks around doing this and that, his moral code lost even more, and the weight of the world — his home tarnished by his hands. )

Only hope can make it better for the future, to kill and bring despair... is one thing, but there's only so much of that people can overcome before they drown in it, and are lost forever.

( he was close to taking back his hand, ignoring the rest if the conversation, but he can't take offense to something so small. people don't understand hope, and because of that komaeda has to help them — there's only certain types of killings that he would say was beneficial to it, and others... )

If you asked me which murders were an aspect of hope... Ebalon-kun, Amami-kun... Hm...

( he's trying to think if there were any others, but there's a difference when it comes to them, and so the idea that they're all the same hardly puts komaeda at ease. instead, he keeps a smile on his face, almost recoiling from it as he continues walking himself. at the question of who he wanted to kill, he pauses, not even looking at rio, but keeping his head faced forward. )

No one. ( ... ) No one...

... I see. No one, then.

[ The answer is simple and quiet, but it's not unkind. It's a simple acknowledgement of what he'd said, and beneath that a promise not to try to pry what seemed to be an old injury open forward.

He struggles with what to say in the face of such blatant offense. It was in the words, but it was more than that. There were always little tics that people couldn't hide that signified what they were thinking, what they were wanting, just tiny little shifts and twitches and movements - those were what he learned best, because he looked for those more closely than anything. It was no different than reading his expressions, and so he can see that his opinion is entirely unwanted here.

But at that point, what can he say? What is there when anything he can offer will just seal the deal here, and push away? So he follows along, opening and closing his mouth as he comes up with an answer and then discarding it. ]

... I'm still listening.

[ Even that statement sounds stupid upon hitting his own ears, but silence feels too easily misunderstood. But what else is there that he can do but listen and acknowledgement, and then try to find a way to translate it in such a way as to make it match his own experience? Rio's choice card remains in place as he middles over these questions. ]

bulletin board updates

12/20 - 12/24 finals week

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