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

Older, handsomer you?

( insult to injury, maybe, but he's bending down to pick up the beanie that's fallen on the floor once the other crashes. that will probably also become part of komaeda's hoarding collection if shin isn't careful. it's weird, actually, watching one portrait follow, and the other stagnant, but maybe that's because that person is here? or well, maybe when shin gets older, the younger protrait will move, and the older one will stop, you never know with how these things work. )

You're pretty weak! Ahaha, why are you taking them down... ( hm. ) It looks better than your mug shot in Ito-kun's mind, you know?

( where's the coffin so he can sit on it while picking out the stray hairs from the beanie, because shin clutches his head so much, you know he's got to leave some strands behind. )

[Shin is not in the mood, feeling the crawl of a face he never wanted to see staring at him again down his spine, with Komaeda's own gaze adding to it. The lifted-head look doesn't last long before he rolls and picks himself up, dusting himself off.]

Maybe you'd like to give it a try? Surely you're strong enough, then.

[Pot. Kettle. Komaeda.

Sure enough, there's teal hairs standing out against the green of the beanie, somewhat dry and brittle towards the ends. Shin involuntarily contemplates the remote.]

Ugh... don't remind me.

[The way Komaeda was pulling his mouth up into a smile... hard to say which picture is more disgusting. Probably this one, because it isn't a fiction of someone's imagination.]

Don't be delusional, certainly I'm...

( not, which he thought shin would be able to deduce from komaeda's appearance, but they're both pale and low temperature, so if he couldn't do it then komaeda shouldn't be able to. he stops though, actually thinking about it for a moment as he continues to pick out the strands of hair one by one, counting them like a person would sheep to lull themselves to sleep. between this color hair and the other picture by the fireplace, komaeda tries to find the similarities, but he can only compare if he's a little closer. )

I guess he wouldn't mind... ( he mumbles, setting the beanie down in his lap as he doesn't look towards shin's direction, and instead down at his prosthetic arm that he proceeds to slowly twist the wrist off. it doesn't hurt him to do so since it's made of only machine, but he wonders what it could have been like if it was his actual arm — twisting it, that is, he only knows about the messy, jagged cuts of a chainsaw. that's neither here nor there. once the arm comes off, he digs into the jacket of his attire, and he pulls out a different hand with claws. after a few twists, it's attached, and he clacks the blades together that sounds off a sharp shing when they touch.

with the beanie in his possession, he looks between the portraits as he walks to stand just a few steps away from shin. )

Which version of you?

( even though one set stares at him like so, and the other doesn't, it's up to shin to choose which "him" comes down, but komaeda doesn't know the full technicalities, so this is said without any intentions to get under his skin. obliviousness rewards many, and maybe it saves shin's sanity. )

Hm?

[That's kind of the point really; bit rich of Komaeda to be making comments about him being weak in his own glass house. Put your money where your mouth is on that one... and Komaeda actually does. The moment the wrist comes off something is already prickling up at the back of his neck, and he's hyper aware of the sharpness of the claws, where he and Komaeda are as one closes the distance, and the exits, all at once. The unseen twitch of ears, paved over by a need to not show a reaction, and also... the filing away of this, because it's something he knows now, as a salve.

'Which version of him'... is his eyesight that bad? Does he know? He can't... it's probably just another toying, rambling shot in the dark, Shin can not afford to react. Unless Sara told him... or Ranger. Both of them have been chummy with Komaeda lately, haven't they, and that's how it works, doesn't it?]

Ahaha, whichever you like, go nuts. Why not both? If you can, that is.

[Ideas Shin hates: Komaeda just having these in his room, because he knows Komaeda well enough to know he wouldn't destroy them. But it's slightly edged out by the current horrible scenario of these just being in the common room forever. At least out of sight is out of mind.]

( he wouldn't destroy either, that's true, and now that he looks at them, and how he knows that both of them are something he wants taken down, komaeda smiles to himself as if he's been told something without even trying. )

You aren't too fond of yourself, are you, Tsukimi-kun?

( that's why he has that alias of whoever "sou hiyori" really is, whoever happens to be the real wolf, and the sheep walking around in wolf's skin stands next to him. he only knows so much, and even with the paintings there's still something missing, but he stares up at the one smiling portrait of shin, and komaeda looks back at him while trying to connect the similarities. he believes he hasn't seen him smile in such a way before, one that feels like his only chance at doing so considering how he acts now, and he's never seen it that wide — rarely meets his eyes some days. as he looks at the other more ominous portrait, he tries to apply that expression to shin, but it doesn't make it far in komaeda's mind.

that could be he's not terrified. )

You must be stuck where you are if you can't remove your own portraits, and indecisive too if you can't tell me which version of you first...

( besides, what's komaeda to think when they're wearing the same matching color scarf at the base of the portrait? or maybe that's the shirt if the "older" version of shin, hm, he'll have to cast hot or not judgement later when he can get a really good look at the portraits. he trots over, pulling himself up onto what shin had been standing on previously, but he tries hard not to leave any claw marks behind. picking off one of the brittle strands of hair, he places it up to the image of the "older" version to check something, and the colors don't match at all. dropping his organic arm, he holds up his prosthetic so that the claws slip underneath the portrait of the one that moves, his thumb cutting against the frame, but nothing's left behind.

a small hum and in second, fire starts to spew from komaeda's left hand, catching the portrait in its flame, devouring the image in full, and the eyes continue to latch onto shin from where he is. as the photo burns, it'll only take a few minutes for the fire to snuff out, and all that's left is an unharmed portrait that lived through the flames, still fresh, brand new, like a phoenix that poking its head from the ashes. )

[Oh he hates that look on Komaeda so much, that look like he's tipped a little too much of his hand. But...]

Ahaha, is that news?

[He's not the sort of person people like, he knows this and it applies even to himself. Komaeda might have seen him smile like that painting of him before, a smile that was wholly itself, directed at him even... but that was before they both woke up.

That is indeed the same red scarf Shin is wearing right now, depicted in both. The connecting red thread.]

Indecisive? I just don't care about them.

[Both of them are dead, multiple times over. It's not a lie, but it's not quite the full picture either. Stuck... he thinks he's starting to get a little more of a bead on Komaeda, because it's not for lack of trying that he can't take them down. Komaeda is fishing in an empty pond in this case, or maybe just the wrong overhang of it; making something seem more important than it is. He watches Komaeda compare the hair, slide his claws underneath with hands in his jacket pockets, the way someone watches demolition on the other side of a chainlink fence.

And then it actually does turn to demolition; there's a jolt just from the sudden unexpectedness of the fire, but as it keeps going the flames are reflected in Shin's eyes as he returns the portrait's stare, as if it's another one of his nightmares being eaten by flames, books he's never read ripped up and set alight in a garbage can.

They clear, of course, and that was too much to expect, wasn't it? He looks away, scuffing at a spot on the wooden floor with a foot before glancing back. They both keep coming back...]

Figures... Stuck yourself, Komaeda?

[You know, since you're having trouble removing it?]

Ahaha! Nope, I'm not stuck, I think they're pretty neat.

( he's never really had a problem with the paintings in general, so that comes to the question if they're like the other paintings, is there something hidden behind them when a person uses their adderstone? the idea is there, but there's no need because he's not here to terrorize, he's only curious about shin's need to remove them, but he's gotten what he wants out of this, because if certain words don't bother shin then it's not the case here, fishing in an empty pond only tells him to move elsewhere, komaeda is a busybody after all.

there's a thought of burning the other portrait with shin smiling, but maybe something in the back of komaeda's head makes him pause, and so he forgoes doing so. he crosses one arm in front of him, getting down as he looks back and forth between the two. )

You know, the eyes watch you more than me...

( he can use one hand to wave in front like one would do to get the attention of someone else, but it's a portrait, so that could be from shin was here before he was. shrugging his shoulders, he sits on top of the coffin with the portraits on both sides of him — angel, devil, who knows, but he watches shin mostly. )

He must like you a lot, Tsukimi-kun. Or maybe as Hiyori-kun, truly... do you want to try again? They say third time's the charm!

( he looks over his shoulder, pointing up at the portrait he tried to burn with his index... clawdex finger... )

Huh, really? I hadn't noticed.

[Well, he actually hadn't, because he'd been preoccupied, but it's all part of maintaining that detached air guard. He's definitely noticing it now it's been pointed out, and is not fond of it. He's not touching 'he must like you a lot' with a ten foot pole.]

Ahaha, I wouldn't want to ruin your fun. Are you giving up already?

[He's pretty sure at this point that, regardless of name, he wouldn't be more effective at taking them down than a claw hand that can set things on fire and who knows what else... is that Add's doing? It would be cool if it wasn't so real, and also in Komaeda's possession.]

( komaeda looks up to check one more time, that person seems more like a wolf hunting down their prey, eyes religiously settled on shin no matter where he goes, but komaeda finds that he won't interrupt it if that's the case. with his prosthetic arm, he's dusting off his clothes of what little hair is stuck on him so that he isn't the apple of said painting's eye, but none of the hair actually hit the floor as he does so.

they're gone, at least. )

It's fun when there's two people, but I guess there's a reason you wanted to take it down.

( he officially gets down on his feet, turning around to look at them as his eyes flick between the self portrait, and then the other. )

Hm... You're no different than me. If something catches your interest, you'd want to indulge... so hear me out, Tsukimi-kun, do you think it's bad to have your painting attached to this place? It leads to easy possession, but... you already took someone else's name, so I guess you're used to that!

( that said, he doesn't find that to be a bad thing, but between what information he got from ranger to go off of, it sounds perfectly normal. why wouldn't it? when he knows the ultimate imposter who took names, faces, and their talent. )

[No different than him... he can't really refute that, having done his best prior to mold himself into that sort, but it still stings. Name... some of the talents, more accidentally and haphazardly than intended... and the scarf.]

Would you rather have one big one of you up there? Pride of place?

[He doesn't like being photographed, okay? Paintings of him aren't an exception... It's something deeper, fuzzier, harder to describe than the clear sharp aversion to the idea of his name being out there... other than he just doesn't like it. Maybe it's true what they say, that that's a piece of his soul up there.

Someone else's name... now how does he know that? Mentally staring daggers at Ranger here.]

...

What makes you think it's someone else's?

You can always see the bigger picture with what's already there, Tsukimi-kun. This... isn't about me.

( he glances back to the paintings, but as ominous as komaeda sounds, he doesn't seem to say much more about it, only because he finds the response interesting. what makes him think it? well, all he has is a surname, and shin does mask his previous name with it, and while he doesn't know who the other "hiyori, the wolf" could be, it sits in his head as he stares at paintings back and forth. if he uses his memories, he knows then that... shin had always been shin, but komaeda had also been someone else entirely to in terms of maybe a perfect life? was it perfect because they lived in happier to an extent moments together — he glances up at shin's smiling picture — or was it because lies can be constructed so beautiful that they can ignore the truth. there's an obvious answer.

aside from that, he knows shin's rather skittish, so he probably wouldn't answer komaeda if he asked "then why don't you have x name," and instead he gives a knowing, open-mouthed smile to reassure him (if it works the opposite, then he's not upset with that either) that he shouldn't have to ask that. it's like a little game of go, corner them, and remove them from the field. )

Since you were so busy trying to take them down, how you investigated properly?

( holding up his claw, he looks around the room as if he's trying to find the perfect spot. )

Edited 2021-12-13 23:03 (UTC)

['This is about you, not me.' That flies about as well as when Helena tried it, and he's a lot less inclined to be nice about it than with her. The happiness in those memories has turned sour, infected by association.]

Isn't it? You've got the arrogance for it...

[He might actually have an answer to 'why not this or that name?' It suits him, doesn't it? He'll take this as a neutral result. His losses got cut. That smile's anything but reassuring, but it's also a known factor; something to unnerve, it's basis having to be reasoned out without taking it into account because of that.]

What, you think someone put them there?

[He's skeptical, even as the idea of investigation leads to determining agency in his mind. Things have shown up without trace before, in a room he knows was locked with no sign of anything touched or moved. It's the sort of thing custom-tailored to plug into his paranoia, but when it comes to things that can only be from his home world... who would know to make them? He's keeping one spot of awareness fixed on the claw.]

...A bronze statue.

( this comes out fairly quickly, almost like he's thought of it, when he died he wanted a bronze statue so that maybe people would remember him and his efforts — a leftover of what became a foundation for the future, but he doesn't continue the explanation. he allows shin to have his victory of komaeda's arrogance, but some could argue why not gold or silver? just a simple, bronze statue if that makes shin feel better in knowing komaeda. )

Hm... Could have just appeared there on it's own. Or... are you aware of the Baader–Meinhof phenomenon?

( it's been said to komaeda, hinted, and it seems to be a constant mechanic of this school, and simply one to think about — literally. once people notice it, it becomes a constant theme in their life, like the faces of natives that they don't know about — how even kaneko said something along the lines, "you've probably seen me before but have just forgotten. more likely you just never noticed me." if he compares the two points of interests, maybe if shin had never noticed them and had it brought to komaeda's attention, they wouldn't be... here. )

They could have put them there, but that sounds boring... we have murders, supernatural entities, and now to ruin it... lackluster events like putting them up. Sigh...

( he's disappointed with that logic.

it's with his claws arm he makes a small rip in time, a black hole with a light blue center that seems to be sucking in the air around it. since he's off to the corner, nothing can accidentally float inside, and komaeda reaches in with his mechanical arm in search of something. it doesn't take long until he finds it, and his hacking gun slips out from the blackhole, and it disappears after. )

Edited 2021-12-14 00:03 (UTC)

[Why not gold or silver? Well, it'd probably get stolen immediately, is why. Bronze is just what they make statues out of... he's not very mentally charitable towards Komaeda, is he?]

...Frequency bias, right?

[Takes a second to recall that one, but arguing with people online does lend itself to memorizing a list of biases to whip out as gotchas. Where Komaeda's going with that is an entirely other question.]

Pretty sure they weren't there before, Komaeda.

[He often wrestles with doubting his own perceptions, which is probably part of why he clings to memory as much as he can, but he's firmly not going to allow the crack of uncertainty to seep in here, bulwarking against his own natural inclination. They definitely weren't physically here, instead of just being here and not noticed until other things started cropping up.

Okay, so Komaeda can just make holes in space-time now. That are also an inventory system? He's looking at that weird megaphone like one looks at a small, as yet unidentified, snake.]

Were you searching for them all this time to say that? Hm... have you ever reached up and touched the area where they hang?

( he's not scolding him, but he does treat shin like a child who should know better when he's very much aware that he's done neither of those things. to want them down so bad means he wouldn't think of them, they're probably the last thing on his mind. people pop up that they have no recollection of, and they say they've always known you, this could be the same thing.

that also might be komaeda's way of fucking with him, but no one has definitive answers, and so all they can do is rely on their own judgement, or komaeda playing with shin's. )

Hmhmhm... you should be a little more open-minded, Tsukimi-kun! This school will eat you alive that way, that said... they already have a picture of you.

( with a sigh, he waves the megaphone in his hand as he notices the bewildered look on shin's face that makes him laugh. no matter, he holds the item in his organic hand, which causes the sleeve of that arm to shift, a yellow piece of fabric visible as he hold up his hand to point the mouth of the megaphone towards the coffin. with a click, a purple, cone-shaped light shines from it, but he turns it around to point at shin instead. it might not hurt his ey— komaeda shouldn't shine things in people's eyes. )

There's two sides to every coin, buy maybe they're as interesting as the others. Want to check?

[He's not a fan of that tone... belittlement in general. He's not some stupid kid.]

Sheesh, wonder why I never tried that before. Wonder why I tried it now. Could it be they were right there, visible?

[If you're going to use that argument, after all. He knows he's rising to the bait and kicking himself for it, but he can't help it. His defenses demand placing his mental integrity of events first, because so often that's slipped or been, well, fucked with.

Speaking of being fucked with... stop shining UV light in people's (his) eyes! It's a guess made in a split second, so his reaction is mostly just lifting an arm over his eyes to block it in already-present annoyance.]

Go ahead and knock yourself out...

[He knows Komaeda's going to try this anyway if it'll potentially yield anything. Might as well be there at the time.]

Don't be such a pessimist, you know the saying here, "open your eyes!", and important pieces like that.

( look at him getting a little huffy about it, it's like spraying water on a small cat which komaeda finds just a little funny, but that's because nothing really bothers him. with a twist of his arm, he'll remove the uv light from the other's eyes, allowing it to settle on the floor while dragging it along the floor. what komaeda thinks is that shin needs a little pick-me-up if he's feeling offended, and that would do no good to have that attitude. )

If you're having troubles, the counslelor might be a good option to get your thoughts in order. You seem to be wondering a lot...

( that's often called being lost in thought, too. he can reference shin if he needs it, and he walks over to the his left, ready to smack him against the back of the shoulder, but he stops. using his claw hand would be dangerous, considering the claws can cut through quite an amount, and so he drops his hand. a long hum he thinks it over on how to move forward, but he turns away from shin like he's decided against something — he just can't rip the jacket, sure, shin's skin would just need some alcohol and patches, but the jacket is a staple. )

Anyway, do you want to do the honors? It's pretty easy, and since you're familiar with them, you'd notice if anything is off.

( so he holds out the hacking gun to him with an empty look in his eyes, he appears harmless. )

They say that, huh?

[If so he's never heard it... I need to make him talk to NPCs more. Speaking of... no way is he talking to the counselor, he heard the rumor that the guy can erase memories and felt even more vindicated about the prior decision not to do this.

Shin's head turns a little as Komaeda moves, not so much keeping an eye on him as an ear on him, keeping track of his footsteps. He steps back a little and to the side when Komaeda gets in smacking range, evidently having had the same thought about the claw hand. I love that the jacket is what saves him.]

...

[He doesn't trust like that, when Komaeda appears harmless he's Up To Something.]

Sure, why not?

[He takes the hacking gun... and then, instead of using Detect, proceeds to futz around with the settings, partly out of just genuine curiosity and also partly because he wants to annoy Komaeda I'm crying. Eight of them, huh... might as well go in order. Knockback doesn't work when he fires it at them with a surprisingly professional stance... but Paralyse does and the appearance of electricity surprises him in it's suddenness a little even if it leaves them as untouched as the fire did. Burn and Link don't seem to do anything either... I'm crying what happens when he fires Hope at the paintings.]

You must not talk to the other students here, it's important, almost like common knowledge. Do you remember the keychain that looks like eyes? The one on the laptop...

( he lists, chuckling softly as he tries to fill in what connects so that shin can get an idea, he's pretty observant, and if komaeda didn't know better — it's why he does less, and lets komaeda do most.

it was already on detect, i'm tearing up, but seeing shin tinker around with it makes komaeda look off to the side, that sort of fooling around would cost him his life. a monokuma unit would strike the moment they saw an opening, and he can only be disappointed that they're not in his world considering it'd be interesting what the other would do. watching him flick through each one makes komaeda wonder if he's trying to see it's capabilities.

it's the professional stance that makes komaeda laugh, looking off to the side acting as if he didn't see anything embarrassing. as for paralyze, the yellow bullet shoots out with the sound out electricity crackling and snapping heard, and a bit of it might cause the tips of shin's fingers to tingle. burn causes an influx of smoke to appear from the mouth of the microphone, and nothing comes out, he can try again if he wants...? as for link, the machine shoots a multicolored heart towards the paintings, passing through them, and disappearing from view. i am so sad they're not inside the school, i would have let him control a monokuma, but i thought the heart going through midori was traumatizing enough.

when he choose the hope bullet, it doesn't do anything at all at first, but shin will find that there's this tingling sensation that courses through his body. it's almost like it's searching for something, and the hacking gun in his hand glows a faint yellow around the rim. komaeda doesn't look away to see what direction it'll shoot, rather his eyes remain on shin as he too follows the same action as the gun. hope is a very sensitive aspect, it's one that effects the future, one that can only be found by uniting with others, that sort of thing is what makes a healthy world. hope can overcome all despair, no matter what horrible event manages to appear, as long as people have courage, as long as they believe, and pull through, by never giving up and moving forward to push themselves over every hurdle, and their limits, that hope can change the world and rally others.

shin tsukimi is weak to him, he doesn't have hope that he could compare to an ultimate when komaeda first met him (but memories serve their purpose, and he finds that despite he's weak, he doesn't think as negatively as he should), but around the time he chased the other down, he felt something different. a small hope... it was like a seed that had been settled in the dirt for a long time, and the small leaf of its sprout finally pushed itself up, allowing the light to bask in its attempt. to komaeda, a miniature hope like that is weak, it can do nothing, but if it's nurtured properly, if it can grow to an extent that even he couldn't expect, could that hope help others? would it spread through the world, being able to cover the world in a warmth by his actions? between then and now, komaeda hasn't made much of a habit to bring it up, but he knows that it's there, as tiny as it is, and he wonders if he was to blow his breath would it go out so easily, just the same as his composure.

his eyes watch the hacking gun, waiting for the bullet to explain the power behind the holder, can he prove something here without meaning to? could he do the same thing as komaru naegi? an ordinary girl who managed to form the bullet of hope with another despite not having any? would shin be able to be just a little surprising, and at the mouth of the hacking gun starts to try... something, it's forming a small ball of scribbles inside that goes back and forth between white and blue, they can hear it attempting to make something, but in the end, it explodes, fizzles out, and there's a soft hiss that comes from the device.

komaeda's not surprised. )

Thought so.

( is the only response he has from how sure he is about it, but he casually attaches a few more words so that he can act as if he meant something else. )

You have really bad luck searching for detect, don't you?

Edited 2021-12-22 02:12 (UTC)

[Let's have him try Burn a second time immediately after the first, for fun now that it works mysteriously.

Hey, he didn't get apparently tormented and have his memory erased of it in order to learn perfect gun posture for nothing! He's pretending not to notice Komaeda's amusement out of the corner of his eye. Also pretending not to notice; the heart shape of the Link effect around the Midori portrait, ugh, no. He's scrubbing that one from his memory.

We're here for the real show though; that yellow glow starting up. This is weirdddd what is it doingggg... The closest comparison Shin has is to the way things felt when they were souls in Narumi's mind, although it's extremely different from being shot; more like waves of static electricity. It takes a while for him to even be able to parse it as something that's searching, tugging and carding through fibres, trying to tap into a vein, to lift what's there to the surface like a capillary. Something in him instinctively pulls away from it, withdraws, places the small plant back under a bell jar. Whatever had managed to gather jolts his hands as it explodes and dissipates into nothing.]

What... was that?

[It's a rhetorical question, slipping unintended through the lingering fizzing sensation that's returned to a low ebb with his finger off the trigger. He hurriedly twists the dial to something at random, and the strange feeling shuts off as soon as it clicks. It's with an uneasy relief he finally turns it all the way back to Detect, messing around with this thing mood gone. Speaking of...]

Just checking.

[He knows full well Komaeda knows it was on Detect when it was handed to him. He presses the trigger, and the light pools out onto the paintings, and he releases his finger almost immediately after when they start moving, smiling and laughing like old friends and both, both staring at him.]

Edited (typo) 2021-12-29 07:33 (UTC)

( was he afraid of what would come from it? it's quite the sight as he watches shin fiddle and fumble about with the hacking gun, but they say curiosity killed the cat. while he's messing the dial in hopes to escape, komaeda watches him with trained eyes. that murky darkness, the little light that refuses to show itself, perhaps it's better that way for shin. no matter how much hope a person has, komaeda's able to gauge it immediately, those who are normal have nothing, they're just an empty husk that have nothing to contribute to the world. it's odd, knowing that shin could if he wanted to.

with the quick switch to detect, he doesn't have to feel the pull coming from the machine, knowing that it even pulled at all is impressive, and komaeda walks over to him to act as if there must have been something wrong. he's aware that shin's aware that komaeda's aware what dial it was left on, so the quick reaction from releasing his finger. )

Ah, Tsukimi-kun... are you okay?

( he places a hand on the other's shoulder, bending down because i just remembered he's short as hell compared to komeda's 6'1" ass. though, he can't act like he didn't see it, the images laughing as if they enjoyed the company of both person, a hidden bond that can't be seen when one looks at the portraits as they are. the truth is always below the surface, and so he pulls his hand away once he realizes the action, and he looks down at his palm, before glancing to the paintings that shin had just aimed at.

with a step back, komaeda lifts one hand to cup his chin in thought, that's unusual for portraits in the dormitory, but rather than pointing that out. )

So you saw it too...

( they weren't in pain, they didn't have the appearance of like they were begging, pleading, screaming in anguish for help either. the despairing state that they're constantly in being something else happy, excited, personal it feels like when they ignore komaeda in favor of looking at him. why is that, he wonders. where was the blood? everything that makes a person feel uncomfortable, where it doesn't crawl under his skin, he might not be able to say the same for shin who turned off the gun's ability. )

Pull yourself together, what did you think...?

W-why wouldn't I be?

[Trying to play it off... It was just for a second. He can pretend it was the horrible product of his imagination. It feels like the school's mocking him with this, and it burns, heat rising in him. Especially in front of Komaeda, who saw it as well. The memories are vague, fuzzy, more feeling and snippets than concrete events, but they were like that once, joking and laughing, with an indefinable at the time undercurrent it's easy to compare. It makes illness pool in him, that hand on his shoulder making his skin crawl where it touched.]

My opinion? It didn't show anything important.

[These memories are nothing to him, just salt in the wound, or so is his salve.]

Quite a machine you have here, ahaha... Does it even work as a megaphone?

Hm... should I point out the small quiver in your voice, or...

( psychoanalyzing never stops with komaeda, he takes every piece of what a person says, their reaction, and uses it as a way to build his case of why he should ask his questions. the deflection is another sign, and he wonders will it be third time is the charm? it does, though, shin follows up with a change of subject where komaeda looks down at the hacking gun in his hand.

he humors him for a moment. )

It's weaker than it was before. I modified it so that a certain protagonist wouldn't break the game, but of course, it works like a megaphone too. Let's see...

( he reaches out with his prosthetic, wrapping his fingers around shin's own hand so that he can help coax it out from the other's grasp. komaeda's mindful between checking if the other's grip is tight or loose; he can tell a lot from someone when it comes to that sort of response. it all stems from shock, fear, that crippling concern that creeps up one's back, and the invisible hand that grips their shoulder tight, that's normally how the feeling goes, or maybe komaeda has it all wrong... he's only felt something like that once in his life. )

[I'm crying, you're already pointing it out Komaeda, and it's getting you this look. It's not like he wanted that to happen, and you know that too.

Shin's had enough time and warning to relax his hand on the megaphone's grip from the initial shock... he's learning Helena's language of exploring the world, and with that learning how to hide himself there as well, just a little.

He's also reluctant to let the megaphone go; he knows Komaeda's the sort to 'demonstrate' by pointing it right at him. It's not like he can just run off with it though, tempting as that is, so he opens his fingers and releases it into Komaeda's care.]

You really are the escape room sort, huh?

[How Shin manages to make that sound vaguely disparaging is anyone's guess, but that statement can't help but remind him of Floormasters.]

( komaeda's giving this look with his bright eyes, and finding shin's expression interesting. hehehe. )

...If I wasn't, I wonder if I would have died earlier.

( he shrugs once the hacking gun is in his hand, and he looks down at the dial to click a few things to see what he wants to do now. there's burn, link, move, just various little pieces that doesn't help for the occasion. )

They won't hurt you, Tsukimi-kun, besides... what you see with your eyes, you can ignore by closing them.

( back to detect, and he holds it up to look at shin's photo first, allowing both of them to take in the more happier, ecstatic appearance that it has. not too different from the original, but no one comparable to the one beside him. he's too locked away, guarded, and the key that he has is wrapped tightly around him, and no one else. all someone has to do is throw a rock to get inside, but that doesn't mean he can't burrow into the ground next. )

Are you even capable of smiling that bright, and laughing. Ah, it... almost feels familiar.

( he hms, looking to shin wondering if he'll match the painting. komaeda knows he's not going to match it, so it's just a little teasing. )

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i love whenever i get to use this icon

me every time shin gets the hacking gun and i see this

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