underlined | IC INBOX: INUGAMI

the school changes, though... i got lost for a day a while ago
but if someone was talking to people, that cant be good. they almost never talk to us, and even when they do... i cant understand them
...wait, something like this happened back home for you?? what do you mean?

as long as you do the same shinichi

maybe its trying to tell us to go to class? haha...
but it really doesnt seem like were safe at any point though
oh, ok
i know dal dal
did they attack you?

no, i know. just the other day, i'm pretty sure i was walking down the same flight of stairs for an hour. but, no...from what i saw, people were able to understand him. it was weird.

back home, though, people mysteriously disappeared because... [he'll have to bend the truth here---] ...a serial killer was on the loose in the neighborhood where i lived. when they'd finally turn up, well. it wasn't pretty.

don't worry about me, though. i will. you ever need help, just give me a call. i'll be there.

heh, maybe you're onto something with all of this somehow enforcing our educational experience, though. certainly beats hall monitors and truant officers and dealing with the principal. much less boring, even if it's more dangerous.

she's pretty badass, lol...but she's a good person. she'll have your back too. they did attack, though. we're just lucky we made it out in one piece.

i dont like it...
they dont really seem to like us so if theyre talking to us its probably bad

oh wow really??
im sorry... thats awful
but ok... i will

hopefully those sorts of things dont show up...

[Honestly he has no idea what any of those things are in a school setting, but they sound bad.]

she was kind of intimidating at first but youre right
shes already told me that... several times
i feel bad asking her to help me so often but... that just makes her angry
im glad to hear youre ok though
its probably best to stay away from those other kids

agreed. it's got to be some kind of...i don't know. scheme? trap? ambush? hard to say...

and...don't worry about it. i've...made my peace with what happened to my mom---she was one of the victims. she...wouldn't want me to keep dwelling on it. [he may as well be a little honest. keisuke's a good guy, and really, shinichi's been wanting to get a couple of things off his chest.] if anything, she'd want me to help others during a similar situation---so, yeah, i don't mind standing up for a friend in trouble. but really? hall monitors and their fellow disciplinary figures wouldn't be able to do much here, so i wouldn't count on anyone suddenly taking up those roles.

i'm glad about you and dal dal being cool. and you shouldn't feel bad for asking for a hand, whether it's her or me. she does it because she wants to. i'll do it because i want to, you know?

heh, thanks. so long as they don't try starting shit with anyone i know, i'm not going to overstep any boundaries.

yeah... something like that

[He takes a few moments to reply back to that one. He had no idea that Shinichi had lost someone as close as his mom. Well, Keisuke's concepts of family bonds are skewed (never really having had parents himself), but he understands it must've been really awful to go through. He feels... a little honored that Shinichi would reveal something so personal to him?]

thats... a really positive thing to get out of that

[And he respects Shinichi for it.]

but youre right... this place has its own way of things even without people taking up roles like that to enforce them. i mean the students dont seem to be afraid to correct anything they dont like

i know... i know that you want to but i still wish you didnt have to offer at all. if that makes sense

they seem to mind their own business most of the time so hopefully itll stay that way. i dont want to have to start worrying about them all the time too

thanks. i've...got to make it up to her, somehow. for hesitating... when i shouldn't have. that's why i'm not going to lose anyone else, no matter what it takes. i mean it, keisuke.

[for all of the stoicism channeled through that message, in actuality, shinichi's teeth are grit as he's typing. he has made his peace, in some ways---he's become more assertive, more determined---but no coping mechanism will ever make his guilt and sorrow fade. but he trusts keisuke, as he does dal dal. he also doesn't want keisuke to end up like him.]

seriously, though---i wonder why it is that they dislike us. we're all students. we never meant them any harm....well, so i'd like to say on behalf of some of us, anyhow. hell, we can't even understand them. i just...don't get it.

but no, i get what you're saying. [if anything, it strikes a chord with him. he's tried to rebel against Migi---while he wasn't terribly successful, it still made him feel like he retained control over some measure of his identity and life in general. he can imagine that keisuke wishes to be self-reliant, as well.] but you don't become strong overnight. you also...can't do it entirely on your own. it's possible, don't get me wrong. but when the opportunity arises, it...tends to come with fine print.

you have it in you. just...choose wisely the ways in which you want to bring it out.

i don't think you should worry about the natives; i've noticed that they're pretty transparent when they're having some kind of malfunction toward us---you'll see it coming. at least it won't catch you or anyone else by surprise, and you can act quickly.

[For some reason, it always chills him, whenever someone goes to that extent. "Whatever it takes." Keisuke didn't have the steel to deal in absolutes. He wishes he could, but he didn't. He hopes that it does work out that way for Shinichi, though—that he can somehow deal with what he felt for losing his mother by... saving others. It was a just, honorable thing to do. Keisuke admired him for it.]

i believe you will. and i hope you do, shinichi...

they dont know who we are just like we dont know them. that, and they seem to know this place... to them we must be invaders. who knows if all the weird stuff was happening before we showed up too
i dont know. i kind of understand why they might be upset, though i dont like how theyre acting

ok... ill try to be careful then

ive been mostly avoiding them so that seems to be working out...
hopefully youll do the same... and make sure dal dal doesnt get into any more fights

[dealing in absolutes means you've got to follow through---and just finding the courage to do so is difficult. but it's a double-edged sword, as shinichi has learned. projecting your strength can drive people away. he sees that in murano. she's wary of him, despite her best efforts to remain close. he can see it whenever she looks at him.

he's beginning to wonder if maybe he's just operating out of rage rather than a will to help others, sometimes, when he thinks about her---]

sometines i wonder...but...even if just one person decides to have my back, i think i'll be alright.

true. i guess...they can't be blamed, in a sense. if it were us in their place---maybe we'd act the same way, who knows. though, now you have me thinking: the natives...don't seem very human, do they? they LOOK human, but they all kinda seem...i dunno...the same? like they're all bees in a beehive. i...don't think the weird crap happening around here is a recent thing if the natives are already like this.

but i've been in your shoes before---hell, i still kind of am. [he knows he has a lot to work on. he's far from having it fully together, despite appearances. and with keisuke, he feels like he can be a little more honest.] just remember this: you're not alone, and there are people who have your back. you'll be fine.

wise choice. i'll be civil, though, and wait till one of them throws the first punch. and don't worry about dal dal----if you're not there to talk sense into her, i'll be there to yank her out of trouble. see? teamwork.

im not really sure what they are... i dont know what else they could be besides human
but youre right. i dont think all the weird stuff started happening with us. they seem to know when to leave and how to avoid certain things... maybe we could learn from them

ok... ill remember that

[He's used to being suspicious of nearly everyone. It takes a lot of thought and effort to mentally deconstruct that tendency.]

thats the safest thing to do i think... im not sure if theyre going to attack first, given how theyve been acting
if both of us keep an eye on her though it should be fine
yeah... right. teamwork

[if they all made sure they didn't do stupid shit, they'd get through this fine, right?]

exactly. teamwork. [granted, shinichi himself is only learning to not go Lone Ranger all the time---in part because there's no Migi to complicate things---but he finds...it's not so bad to rely on others. that, maybe, he should've come clean from the very beginning, if only to those close to him back home. but that's for whenever Migi becomes a full part of hin again. until then...

...he'll enjoy the company before he has to put some serious thought into things. as for his own paranoid tendencies... well, that's simply par for the course. he has to be alert.] we may not always be physically around each other all the time, but at least we know we're each a call away should something happen to any of us. don't worry, keisuke.

we'll get through this together. all three of us. i'll catch you later.

[Teamwork. It was a whole lot better than being totally reliant on someone... rather, everyone working together. It almost seemed too idealized—as if Keisuke was too used to people only looking out for themselves in his own world that it seemed outlandish.

They'd all work towards it. It was vaguely hopeful, and he accepts that.]

okay, shinichi...
i'll see you

IC INBOX: INUGAMI

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