twelve reconnections ➱ username: h. inaba

[dereban]

Just a short PSA: starting any rumors about murders is messed up. Don't do it. 0/10, do not recommend.

Other than that, a few things:

1) I'm a part of the student council now, and while I might be new to the job, if there's any assistance that I can help with, please don't hesitate to let me know.
2) I've finished up a guide draft for most subjects -- if anybody wants to take a look at it for any edits or additions, feel free to give me a heads up.

And with that aside, I suppose I have a personal and admittedly selfish inquiry of my own.

If anybody is willing to hear a girl out on a personal matter regarding relationships, I'd appreciate it. It's something that I'd rather do in person, but I just wanted to put feelers out there.

Anyway, that's it from me!

Comments

[taketori]

...

Well, maybe if I dyed my hair? [ He says, pulling on a bang... ]

[dereban]

No. Not allowed. You're banned from it, too.

[taketori]

Why not? I've kind of wondered how I'd look with darker hair. It might wind up looking pretty cool.

[ With all of the confidence of a Chuunibyou. ]

[dereban]

Oh, when you put it that way...

[ There's a pause. A glimmer of hope in the darkness. ]

...absolutely not. What are you, a middle schooler who missed their edgy, rebellious phase? Come on.

[taketori]

Now now, if I truly wanted to get edgy, I would have gone with something I did want to do. Dark hair is cool, but you rarely get to see students walking around with silver or even white hair!

[ Is he even being serious about this at this point??? Yes. ]

[dereban]

[ Immediately, Inaba gets up from her chair. ]

I don't want to see it. In fact, we can pretend this whole conversation never happened. This is a dream. Yep. A figment of my poor imagination. I can't believe--

[ She stops herself and her dry tone before she says something she might regret. Clearing her throat, she goes back on topic. ]

Anyway. We're not doing that, and that's final.

[taketori]

[ Can't believe... he'd say something so painful? Yikes, okay, time to circle back then. ]

Alright, alright.

In any case, a rumor to figure out that deeper meaning's a tough call. It'd be easier if we had more information on... well, our 'enrollment', as it were.

[dereban]

[ That isn't what she was going to say, but believe what you want!!

It is painful, though. ]

Honestly, it'd probably be easier to just get the info off something, or someone. But that's something that'll come in time, I'd like to say.

[taketori]

Hm. Thinking about it, that much doesn't really require more power than we already have.

[ A brief pause. ]

It may require talking to our new librarian though.

[dereban]

Okay, then I'm counting on you to talk to him, student council-senpai!

[ Inaba, you two are literally in the same year. ]

[taketori]

Hey, wait-- don't just foist this on me! I don't want to talk to him either!

[dereban]

You suggested it, so you have to do it. Got to show your new student council kouhai just how truly cool you are...!

1/2

[taketori]

Hrk--

[ This is EXTREMELY unfair, Inaba...! ]

[taketori]

[ Especially... at this moment. Not when his head's still not necessarily screwed on right. ]

F...Fine. I'll do what I can, Inaba.

[ A beat. ]

Just... Inaba, right?

1 / 2

[dereban]

I'll be counting on you.

[ She smiles proudly, feeling confident and like she's won. ]

[dereban]

[ --however, he catches her off guard when he asks that question, her face burning scarlet. ]

O-O-Of course! I mean... we're not...!

[ "Yuki-chan knows the value of movin' on too, so what's the harm in givin' it a shot? It's always gonna be a no if you don't try."

...

Why did she have to remember that now, of all times? What a pain in the ass. ]

We're not, so...

[ God, she can feel her face burning red as she huffs and her gaze shifts away. ]

... 'Inaba' is fine.

[taketori]

[ --He knew he shouldn't have asked! What the hell kind of question was that?! Did he let his guard down that much that he allowed something like that to just slip right out of his mouth? Ugh, it's probably this tone... for once, he was hoping for some airhead with a ribbon in her hair to break this up. ]

G-Got it! So then, I won't call you kouhai, no matter how much you ask.

[ It... it was a joke. Yes? ]

[dereban]

Oh, that's... what you meant! Ahahaha, I mean, of course you meant that, what else could you have meant?!

[ She can feel her face burning red and she needs to force herself to not look at him to hide that as she tries her best to cool herself off.

Stupid! How could she be so goddamn stupid!!

Time to change the topic quickly, before he catches on. ]

B-By the way, how old are you, anyway?

[taketori]

Seventeen-- er, wait.

[ Thinking about it... theoretically he would've been here back in September last year, but he's also dead... so...? ]

Maybe eighteen? I probably wouldn't age while I'm here, would I?

[dereban]

I mean... I don't know. We still have to like, eat and sleep while we're here, so why not throw 'physical aging' in the mix?

[taketori]

Then, I guess I could consider myself to be eighteen. Well...

[ Yeah, he might as well be eighteen. But that just causes him to think about something else. While they're talking about this... ]

I can really only hope that the Shirogane Miyuki that continued to live had a better birthday than I did. I can't even remember what I did last year. I wonder if...

[ His sense of time is messed up. He arrived here at the beginning of the school year last year... and a year's passed since then. By this time, if everything had gone as he expected, he'd have already left Japan and would be skipping that final year. By this time...

Did he get Shinomiya to confess? Did he decide to confess to her first? Is she going to go to Stanford with him?

...

No, no no no, let's not do that. Don't think about it. ]

No, never mind. That doesn't really matter.

[dereban]

Don't think too hard on that sort of thing, Miyuki. Parallel universes... mm, let's just say that there's an infinite amount of possibilities.

[ As someone who's basically experienced the life of a 'parallel world' version of herself, she knows it all too well. ]

In any case, you're right. It's not important.... well. Unless you're thinking about graduating and potentially going back to a life where 'Shirogane Miyuki lived'...

[ There's something wistful about the way she says all of this. ]

Ah, but I already told you my thoughts on that sort of thing before, didn't I?

[taketori]

[ Miyuki's quiet, mulling it over. Parallel universes, infinite possibilities... it's all so occult. The concept of knowing about different worlds only increased the amount he didn't know, and if he thinks about it too hard...

...He can't. ]

...you know, I did want to. I figured, there was always a chance. Maybe I would wake up, and this would have been a terrible dream I had. My sister would insult me, I'd get up and be right out the door to return to my normal life.

[ Back to where magic didn't exist, ghosts were only a part of stories, and he didn't have to worry about finding a knife at his throat. He stares down at the table, his two index fingers being pushed together before he splits them apart. ]

All things considered, if I don't remember any of this, then what does become of this Shirogane Miyuki? Am I going to disappear? If that's the case then, what am I still trying so hard for?

If... by any chance, the Shirogane Miyuki that did live was able to have Shinomiya Kaguya fall in love with him, then I should be able to accept that. Even if it's not me.

[ It doesn't even occur to him that he said that out loud, but it's what was weighing him down. In one reality, somewhere out there, if he's happy then this spirit should be able to make peace with that. Shouldn't it? ]

That's... why I think, I have to move on. I can't pine for someone I, for all intents and purposes, don't want to see again. I can't yearn for a life that I no longer have a right to experience. If I can't do that, then I'll be stuck here forever. Then, who will I become?

[ ... ]

Ahh, sorry sorry, I didn't mean to bring the mood down that low. We've had about enough of that.

[ No more existential crises, not when there's work to be done. ]

[dereban]

No, it's fine. I'd rather have a genuine conversation than having people pretend to keep the mood up for false pretenses, anyway.

[ Even if that makes Inaba a hypocrite, wanting to control the conversation and make sure she buries things deep, deep down. ]

Although hearing you say that... really, really pisses me off! I can't believe he was right, that stupid idiot! I feel like I lost a bet.

[taketori]

Eh? Wait, what? Right about what? Did I say something wrong?

[ Lost a bet? Was something hinging on his response to this situation?! ]