lower

[sisters]

Who: Rantarou Amami, Nagito Komaeda, & friends
What: Hopezone 2022
When: January onwards
Where: Yogen high school (maybe?)
Warnings: TBE

This uneasy feeling is weighing on me / I forced down my heart’s desires that I wanted to follow so I wouldn’t spit them out / They built up inside my chest, like dregs, and clouded me.

Comments

[sisters]

Don't worry about the notes. I mean, it's nice to have a backup, but if I don't catch something then that's on me.

( for now. these meetings are about to get real rough when he loses his hearing though... maybe he should work on lip reading too? )

It's more like... I just wanted to see how you were doing. Usually you're pretty good at sticking around 'til the end, so I wondered if something might've happened to make you need to step out.

( is that awkward? probably, yeah. he's not really the best at something like comforting people, but... he does care. )

[decrypter]

[oh...so it's that. well, Rantarou knows she's died many times, so if she explains it calmly, he might get what her problem with the whole deal was. her expression drops, and she closes her eyes - somehow, it's easier to say this with them shut.]

I wasn't...really comfortable at all during that meeting.

[her voice is soft, but even.]

I don't know the person who was overseeing it all, Miss Akamatsu, but...it was how she was carrying on...that she was so strong in that we weren't allowed to leave until this was over, and everyone was only walking in circles. And I...oh, it's not her fault, don't get me wrong.

[deep breath.]

All of my deaths have involved me being hunted down in a place where I can't leave. Not until certain things are done, but...it's made me hate being shut in if I don't know there's a way out. So I just...needed some air.

[sisters]

So it made you think of where you were before, huh...

( it's... he knows that it wasn't a great place to be, wherever helena came from. can hardly blame her for having a strong response to the situation if that was the case. he seems to ponder that for a moment, quiet as he turns the words over in his mind — he wants to make it clear he's giving her feelings due consideration, even if he knows that it wasn't the intention to cause such a reaction. in the end, he'll give a soft, thoughtful hum, not sounding too bothered by the whole ordeal, nor too happy — neutral. )

Sorry, I guess she got a little carried away, huh? It's something that was helpful before — being able to bring people together and keep them focused like that... ( something about her that he'd admired, even... ) But it's not realistic to expect things to work the same way here.

( he shifts slightly, fabric rustling as he settles himself more comfortably next to her. )

I can talk to her, if you'd like.

[decrypter]

[she starts at that, shaking her head.]

You don't have to do that. Like I said, it's not her fault. It's not that she was doing anything wrong - it'd be the height of foolishness to expect her to intuit that one person out of many would have those thoughts.

[especially if her way was the best beforehand.]

It's a difficult job for her to take on, anyway...meetings are hard to handle.

[sisters]

No, it's fine, really. I'm sure she'd rather know, right?

( if she can't intuit, then maybe it'd be better to tell her? she can't be faulted for something she doesn't know, but she can't fix it either if nobody lets her in on the fact. )

Besides, like I said, things work kind of differently here than they did before.

[decrypter]

...I should be the one to talk to her though. Or at least, I ought to be there. So she knows I don't bear her any ill will about this.

[it's only right that she sit in the same room and metaphorically look Miss Akamatsu in the eye. she'll trust Rantarou's judgement on this - she just has to believe it's fine if she does bring this up.]

[sisters]

If that's what you want, I don't think it's a bad idea. ( helena is the self-sufficient type, after all. no reason for him to intrude on something personal like this. )

But Akamatsu-san, she's a good person. She really cares about people, so I'm sure you won't find any difficulty if you do.