like a bitter stranger

[samuraiwomen]

Who: Everyone
What: Our monthly family meeting.
When: March 5th, 2000.
Where: Yogen dorms common room.
Warnings: Discussions of murder, suicide, child death...more?



[ A message goes up on the forums late Friday evening.

S.chidouin: Group meeting in the dorms Saturday. 12:00. No punching. No stabbing. I'll bring stickers.

If your character would not find a post from Sara worth listening too, Bonnie is wandering around, vaguely noting how important this meeting is, and how very much you should attend. No further details are forthcoming.

The meeting itself is a quiet affair. The fireplace is not lit, there are no snacks. Sara waits in the corner for everyone to arrive and get settled and then she clears her throat to speak. ]

As most of you know... [ It's hard to start, but her voice gets firmer as she goes on. ] We spent the last two months investigating Maya Arisu's murder. That case is solved. A few weeks ago, Bonnie-chan and I found the culprit.

Rantaro Amami killed Maya Arisu, Hiro Arisu, the vice principal and is presumably responsible for the scene with Keigo Arata. He is also dead. I just figured...everyone should know. To many people got hurt the last few months. I'm sorry.

[ She fiddles with her hair. That's all...she really has to say. There's not much more then that as the gist of it. ]

Comments

[commences]

( if he's able to do harm to himself, then everyone can be relieved that he sets the same standards no matter who he proposes the idea to. it's true that it would terrify most of the group, especially the ones who aren't morally grey can't see the appeal in doing so— it's almost like most of the people here never lost a limb before. prosthetic fingers drum against the table gently as rio's palm rests over the splayed organic in the middle of the table.

he knew he wouldn't do it now, but if it was needed and called for then rio wouldn't disappoint him. if it was all that had to be done was taking the sharp edge of a knife to grind down against their fingers it's obvious what they would find. beneath rio's skin is metal and wires, different sensations would be met as multicolored wires snapped. there would be no blood, but maybe there would be pain or perhaps being doll removes all troublesome aches and pains.

the knife would need to be wedged into bony fingers underneath, it would cut through pale flesh, and the stinging, tingling feeling would crawl up and inside of komaeda to make his breath hitch. blood would spew over rio's fingers, and whether he could keep his mind there while the other is entirely focused is another story. he would try, he's done it before, and once they're past the pain the world is normally clearer then.

everyone would realize that. )

Come now, Riokun! It's your idea and I want to encourage it. Even like this.

( the prosthetic reaches to grab the the multitool, and the light weight of it doesn't exist in his grasp. setting it to the side, his hand slowly turns underneath rio's, and his fingers wrap around the youth's own gently as he holds onto him. )

...Yeah, even like this.

( slowly he releases rio's hand, and pulls it from under as though he's made a compromise. he can still feel the leftover warmth against his hand, and so he sets it down in his lap as he looks at rio with a faint smile, though there's something about a person who can make another smile in times like these. )

I think we covered everything today.

[rearranger]

[ Rio's gaze lingers on their hands for several seconds before returning to Komaeda's face. He takes no issue with what most people would consider senseless violence, the ones that re simply for survival and safety, but that concept doesn't seem to be one that most can parse well. Rather, he's been pushed and pulled away from his impulses and views time and time again, like a child being given the same lecture over and over.

His fingers curl. If he allows his partner to reach the point where a harsh punishment is needed to remind him of what's needed, then he's already failed him. It's why they have each other, it's why people need someone to watch them, and it's why the people coming up here keep failing - there's no one to catch their hand if they fall, or to push their back so they can take those first few steps forward. It makes it impossible to get anywhere, and so they keep retreading the same ground over and over without change.

It's a smile that won't reach his eyes more than any other, and most of all in these difficult and tiring times, but just for it to exist alongside those words is enough to alleviate some of the weight on his heart. ]

Yeah. That should conclude our review session... So, I'm sure we can do better next time around.

[ He lets his hand linger on the table for a few seconds longer before settling back into the chair. They can do better, and they can do this again, and it'll be different each time. ]

Confessions, was it...? It sounds interesting.

[ He takes the book that had been sitting on the table. Their meeting is adjourned, and so all that's left is to do what Rio had promised at the start. ]