telewarped | Ryslig

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From:

telewarped

Chiaki...

[Her voice is pained, almost a whine—frustration, regret, and sympathy all wrapped in one word. Of course Nanami's lost count... But then, as she continues, Shoka realizes that she might not be the only one. The Shoka in that other world hadn't felt like her—not fully; though those memories had been very real and confusing in the first weeks, they had eventually faded into the back of her mind like a dream.]

Crap. I forgot about that... I didn't make it out of the arena either. [Her laughter is weak and hollow.] And here I'm giving you a hard time... Hypocrite much...?

[Her fingers curl at Nanami's back as she breathes in, then out, shakily.]

I'm sorry... I keep doing this. I should've—...

[Been there. Done something. She keeps finding herself saying that, too.

That's her—but when Nanami speaks again, some kind of similar promise in the words, she feels a pang of worry.]

If you do recognize him somewhere... What're you gonna do?

From:

waitingforplayer2

You-- you don't have to apologize. There's nothing to apologize for...

[ She gently strokes Shoka's hair. Only a little bit of her slime is left behind; because Nanami's a little unstable and shaky. ]

... I don't know. ... I just want you to be safe.

[ She will threaten, if she has to; she'll defend Shoka, she'll protect her. She'll never let Shoka die on her watch again, if she can help it.

At least, that's what she hopes. Who knows what Ryslig will throw at them. --But maybe Nanami can, at least, help to control this one thing. ]

From:

telewarped

You don't have to do anything. Okay? [In fact, she'd prefer it if Nanami didn't do anything. No more tempting fate.] Dunno if I could even pick him out of a crowd anyway... We were—both Shades, y'know?

[It might not have even been personal, really. They were both being fed emotions that weren't fully their own and itching for a fight.]

... Know what though...? I was... kind of freaked out. When I went down. [She says it nonchalantly, dragging some self-deprecating humor out of it. Though Nanami can't see it right now, she might hear a grin in the words, too. Because it is funny, she thinks.] I didn't... want to go out like that. Or forget. I've never—...

[I've never been scared like that, she means to say, but the words catch in her throat. She'd never feared for herself, really—not when she first died, and not when she'd been faced with erasure. The first was almost welcome, and the second accepted. No use in fighting or clinging to any of her memories; they were probably better off gone, anyway, just like her.

This time was different. And how many second chances had it taken?

It's funny, so a choked little laugh escapes her.]

... It sucked.

From:

waitingforplayer2

Shoka-chan.

[ The hitch in her voice, the fear-- Nanami catches all of it. Shoka, who had died somewhat willingly back home. Shoka, who had related to Sonic's desire to kill himself.

For Shoka to not want to... it's huge.

She clings closer, with her smaller slime body, wrapping her mini-tail around Shoka's back. ]

Death sucks. Even if you know you'll come back...

We should get home. Maybe-- [ Shoka's lost memories, if there are any-- which she's as worried for as Nanami is, now. ]

Maybe you can talk to the others-- you're from the same world, if there's something you're forgetting then they'll probably know... unless you have something from home-- I have some pictures I can look at, for my memories...

[ Operation Memory Check: START? ]

I need some time to... grow my slime back, anyway... you're probably hungry too...

From:

telewarped

[Shoka shudders and sniffles, saying nothing as she and Nanami continue to cling to each other. Though she's listening to the suggestion, it takes her a few moments to muster a reply.]

... Y-yeah... We should.

[Carefully and with reluctance, she begins to disentangle herself from Nanami. As she does, her gaze shifts to the wall, then to the floor, mapping out where her feet should go. After a week spent in a largely incorporeal body and a few days spent in oblivion, walking feels strangely complicated—but she manages to get one leg over the edge of the bed and touch the floor with her hoof. Even as she draws away, her tendrils stay loosely wound around Nanami.

Nanami looks very small right now. Needs time to grow her slime back, she said...]

Need me to carry you, or anything...?

From:

waitingforplayer2

[ Shoka's an anchor. She's solid, she's warm, she's home. As the kelpie starts to slowly get to her feet, Nanami continues to cling. ]

Mm... if it's all right... [ Scooching her own way out of the arcade right now seems like much more energy than she has. Better to rest for now...

Compressing her slime again, she drapes carefully around Shoka's neck, kind of like a scarf. She holds onto Shoka's shoulder with two tiny arms, her tail drooping off Shoka's other shoulder. ]

Is this okay?

From:

telewarped

[Shoka is already reaching for her even before that sentence is through, scooping the Slime up against her. Soon, Nanami is settled around her neck, over the rows of long, jagged scars. Despite everything, Shoka manages to smile, albeit weakly, at the familiar strangeness of it.]

Yeah. Hold tight, okay?

[She won't go quickly, lacking the need and energy for it, but she feels the warning is necessary, considering her initial unsteadiness. She recovers fast enough, however, and the trip is mercifully short; she finds her key card, presses it to the door to her room, and suddenly they're back in Bavan, deposited right in front of the house they share with (she remembers, thankfully) Joshua, Beat, and Neku.

It's disorienting, for a moment, and she stands there blinking dazedly at the front door, one hand holding Nanami securely against her shoulder. Then she replaces her key to the Arcade with another, and lets them both in.

As she's unlocking the door, she speaks softly to Nanami.]

You remember—who we live with? Tell me a little about 'em.

From:

waitingforplayer2

[ For the whole journey, she holds onto Shoka. Not a drop of her drips as they make the way back home, as Nanami keeps herself compressed tight and small around Shoka's neck.

It's something of an effort. She still feels unstable. But it's just a short trip...

Shoka's words jolt Nanami out of her thoughts, and she has to take a moment. It's like thinking through mud. ]

Josh-kun... used to be a god. Called the Composer. Beat-kun... nii-san. Neku-kun... kind of quiet, good at art.

... And ... [ And 807. Her other home. ] At the apartment-- Komaeda-kun. And Hinata-kun. F-from home... Okami-san-- our kouhai.

... Your turn.

From:

telewarped

[As Nanami goes through her list, Shoka acknowledges each name with a small, encouraging confirmation: an mm-hm or a yeah, and? By the time Nanami's finished, they've gotten inside, and Shoka's done a cursory search for their housemates. She doesn't hear anything, so they must be out (just as well; she'd really rather they not walk in on this memory check exercise).]

That's six outta six. You got this.

[Now it's her turn, apparently. She musters a little snort.]

You made it too easy for me. [But she'll think back, of course, for something unique to her memory.] The Composer's at the top of everything—basically the Game Master's master's master... But Josh... broke the rules, just to give me another chance. Then Beat—Worms-for-Brains... and Neku... We fought for Shibuya together. I wouldn't... be here at all if it weren't for all of them. We're a team.

[Family, she thinks but doesn't say. After a moment to check that Nanami is still secure around her neck, she makes for the stairs and starts her slow way up them.]

And before that was... the Reapers. Ayano... Susukichi, Kaie... Tsugumi, Hishima, and... Shiba. [They're all still there, it seems, for better or for worse. She exhales.] Sorry. I know those names don't mean anything to you...

[She stops, then, at the door to Nanami's room.]

Okay if I go in and get those pics for you? You remember where you keep 'em?

From:

waitingforplayer2

[ Nanami, also, is comforting and encouraging - for most of the names. Until Shoka gets to the Reaper names - those, she can't enumerate. She has to take it on Shoka's word that the kelpie is right. ]

It's all right. [ It still means something, to hear them. ] They're in my pink bag...

[ Nanami's room is just how they left it - maybe slightly dustier than it's used to being, given that Nanami hasn't really been touching anything in it for the last week. There's consoles plugged into a little television, a shelf full of games for them, some posters on the wall, and her unoccupied bed - where her pink bag sits.

Nanami clings tighter as Shoka enters the room - hopefully not enough to actually choke her, but it's just instinctual. ] Hey... is that all the names? Of everyone, back home?...

From:

telewarped

[Shoka steps inside, taking care not to disrupt anything else, and picks the bag up by one of its straps. As she does, she feels Nanami coiling more snugly around her neck, like a choker necklace. Though it doesn't actually choke her, the sensation of Nanami oozing into the subtle divots of her scars prompts a flash of unwanted memory: gasping through an open throat, drowning on dry land.

She shudders, but says nothing. At Nanami's question, she musters a bit of dry humor.]

What, I haven't dumped enough names on you already? [A pause, and then, hesitantly:] No. There was also... the rest of our team. Nagi, Fret, and... Rindo.

From:

waitingforplayer2

[ Nanami catches the shudder - it's hard not to, with how close they physically are - but she doesn't have a sense of why. Maybe the memories back home are too painful... ]

Mm... that's good. ... Josh-kun mentioned a Rindo before, so... I wanted to make sure that you still remembered him.

[ She lets go from Shoka's neck, finally, oozing her way down Shoka's arm, peering into the open pink bag. And then she dives in, and re-emerges moments later with the pictures whose location she knew intimately, with how many times she's looked at them. ]

Here...

From:

telewarped

[Sorry, Nanami; Shoka is suddenly very distracted.]

You... were talking about Rindo? What for?

From:

waitingforplayer2

Ah-- it was a couple of months ago, maybe?...

[ What is time. It's hard to remember. ] He didn't say much... just mentioned the name, really. [ At least, that's all she can pull right now. ] But Josh-kun said he was pretty important to all of you... so if you'd forgotten him, that sounds like it'd be pretty bad.

From:

telewarped

[She exhales then, and the hint of unease passes.]

Yeah... It would be. He was part of our team. [She laughs a little, softly.] Kind of the leader, actually.

[Very carefully, she sets the bag back down and takes a seat on the edge of the bed. If they want to take the trip down memory lane to her room, they can do so later.]

Anyways... You wanna—walk me through those pics?

From:

waitingforplayer2

The leader?...

[ Whoop no they're focusing on photos now. Nanami slips into Shoka's lap. Slowly, surely, her slime is growing... but it'll take time to go back to normal size. In the meantime, she peers at the first picture that Shoka's chosen. ]

Okay-- that's Sonia-san-- the Ultimate Princess. She loves horror movies-- and that's Mioda-san-- a light musician, but she prefers playing heavier metal...

[ Slowly she goes through each of her classmates in the pictures. She only hesitates when she gets to a tall orange woman, standing and smiling with the rest of them. ]

... And that's sensei. [ She doesn't elaborate on that one. ]

From:

telewarped

[Ah, there's that Ultimate Talent stuff again. Shoka listens patiently, following each description with her eyes and inwardly marveling, just as she had during Tanabata, over how much Nanami remembers about her classmates. Shoka tries to dedicate them to her memory, too, just in case.

The descriptions all seem to come easily for Nanami—until she gets to Sensei.]

... Nothing else to say about her? [It's hard to tell if Nanami's hesitation is due to a gap in her memory or something personal. Just in case it's the former, Shoka gently probes,] You... mentioned her back during Tanabata, right?

From:

waitingforplayer2

[ Nanami's quiet for a long time, staring at the smiling photo. The long orange hair, the maid's dress, the easy closeness with her whole class...

Someone who taught her, and then betrayed her.

Shoka deserves to know. She speaks evenly and quietly, trying to keep the emotion out of her voice. ]

Her name's Chisa Yukizome. She was the Ultimate Housekeeper when she went to school there. She taught us for a year and a half. She brought our class together. ... She taught me how to make friends with games.

...

At the end... she protected me and Komaeda-kun. And then after that... she pushed me into the elev--

[ Her voice breaks, and she stops, shaking her head, burying her face into Shoka's shoulder instead of going on. ]

From:

telewarped

[Immediately, Shoka wonders if it would have been better not to ask. Nanami's initial silence is worrying and, though her words make the woman sound kind—almost like how Shoka might describe Kaie herself—there's something distinctly off about the way she says them.

She can't even get through that last sentence. As she hides her face in Shoka's shoulder, Shoka, though confused, automatically lifts her arms to cradle Nanami close, careful not to lose her grip on the photographs.]

Hey... Hey, it's okay. You don't—have to talk about it if it's too much... [What was it Nanami was trying to say? Pushed? Elevator? Shoka tries to think back. Did Nanami ever mention an elevator before?] I got you. Okay?

[She remembers then, quite suddenly. Nanami may have never mentioned an elevator, exactly—but that game they'd played together, back in that world full of stages... It started in an elevator, didn't it? Nanami had told her then that the one responsible for her death was Junko, the mastermind, but now Shoka's mind makes a connection that makes her stomach drop: this woman, their teacher, must have been involved somehow, too.

From over Nanami's shoulder, she looks down at Chisa's image in the photograph, then covers it carefully with her thumb.]

My bad. Maybe... that one's better off forgotten, huh?

From:

waitingforplayer2

[ Nanami shakes, trying hard to pull herself together. She feels stupid and weak - it was a year ago, she still loves sensei doesn't she, why isn't she over this--

But Shoka holds her. Before too long the shaking stops. Nanami nods against Shoka's shoulder. ]

S-sorry. Sorry. [ She glances back at the photo - the smiling teacher's face now covered with Shoka's gray thumb. ] I think... th-that's everyone...

From:

telewarped

Don't be.

[There's a long, careful pause, before she thinks to gently add:]

If you ever do want to talk about it... Just know I'll listen. Okay?

From:

waitingforplayer2

[ She nods. One more, tight, slimy hug. She holds fast to Shoka. ]

Your turn, again. ... Back to your room?

[ She doesn't really want to stay in here right now anyway. She definitely doesn't want to let go of Shoka. ]

From:

telewarped

[Scooping Nanami up again, Shoka starts to head back to her room—but, as she goes, she suddenly thinks to ask:]

You sure that's all you had? Just your class? No... family or anything?

[Truthfully, the question hadn't even occurred to her until now. She doubts it, given that she'd never heard Nanami mention anyone else, but it seems worth checking.]

From:

waitingforplayer2

[ For a long time, Nanami's quiet, as Shoka walks back to her room - but it's not for lack of memory, but lack of words. What is there to say? ]

My parents... I remember them, but... there's not much to talk about. ... They were okay, I guess, but ... they weren't around much.

[ She clings closer. ] My class... they felt more like family. And now my family here, too. Like you.

From:

telewarped

[Though she was expecting that answer, in a way, the undercurrent of loneliness to it still feels so strange, completely at odds with the Nanami she's come to know. The Nanami of Ryslig seems to know just about everyone, always surrounded by friends; it's hard to imagine her as alone. Shoka's voice is soft.]

Yeah... I get that. [She smiles a little then, wryly, trying to simultaneously show her sympathy and lighten the mood a bit.] Honestly? Kind of wish I could forget mine. Who needs 'em, right?

[A moment later, however, that soft tone returns.]

... Sorry though. I wish things... could've been better. But I'm glad we could be that for you.

[She clings to Nanami in return, carrying her close as she opens the door to her room. Like Nanami's, it's been left unchanged. She moves to her dresser, where a collection of items—most of them gifts—has been neatly arranged.

Just above them, a small drawing has been pinned to the wall. It's Shoka herself, rendered in a style that Nanami will likely recognize as Beat's, with two figures on either side of her: one, a burly man with a heavy gold chain around his neck, and the other a willowy, dark-haired woman with an iguana draped over her shoulders. They're all smiling.]

They were kind of like that for me, before... The Reapers. [Shoka's eyes linger on the drawing.] Definitely more of a family than I had when I was alive the first time...