nothisbrother | Third Fall

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Third Fall - [Voice]

[Within the past week, Naoi's household has grown by two roommates, his best friend Otonashi and that stupid little girl, Yotsuba, so it's been quite the week for him. As happy and thrilled as he is to have his favorite person ever here in Luceti, that brat causes a problem. With her around he can't cling to Otonashi as much as he'd like! She keeps getting in the way and beating him to the punch.

This needs to be dealt with. Now. Whether Otonashi likes it or not, this girl has to go... but of course she can just mysteriously disappear. Can't have his best buddy thinking Naoi just gave her the boot! Then he would be mad at him and that's a very bad thing. So when he opens his journal, he puts up a filter]

[Voice - Filtered away from Otonashi and Yotsuba]

Does anyone here know how to get rid of a pest? Not of the insect variety either. [If she was, Naoi would have crushed her by now, which is still tempting to do]

You see, she arrived at our apartment just the other day and now she won't leave. I would like to get rid of her as soon as possible. I don't care about how the deed is done either, as long as it's subtle. Any suggestions?

[After that, he simply shuts his journal and wonders over to where ever Otonashi is in the apartment to go and hang with him like the coolest bro ever.]

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[And once Naoi walks out that door, Otonashi will follow.]

You mean Yotsuba? Aw, she's not that bad. I told her that I had things to do today anyway though, so I don't think she'll follow us. But anyway, just lead the way, Naoi!

[Onwards!]

Good. [She's a lot worse than you think Otonashi, YOU'RE JUST BEING TOO NICE. But yeah just follow Naoi. Once they're outside, he stops for a second and looks up at the sky]

Hey, Otonashi?

[NO HE'S NOT. YOU'RE JUST BEING TOO CLOSE-MINDED. GOSH. He gives Naoi a somewhat confused and surprised look when he abruptly stops though, and then follows his gaze toward the sky. Aaand then back to Naoi.]

Yeah? What's up?

[He shoves his hands into his jacket pockets and just stays staring at the sky with a consentrated look. Shhh he's having a staring contest with it, don't mind him.]

Do you think this is our second chance? [Hey, God can get serious sometimes]

[Huh. Seems like he's really fixated on the sky. Otonashi decides to look back up at it as Naoi asks his question. When he does, he flinches slightly, started. He glances back at Naoi for a moment by the corner of his eye, then gazes back up.

A second chance, huh... He... hadn't really thought about that quite yet. Now that Naoi's brought it up though, he has no idea what to even say. Was this a second chance? ...No, it couldn't really be. After all, being in the afterlife with the rest of the SSS was kind of like a second chance of its own.

Otonashi just... has no idea how to answer that. He goes silent for a bit, letting the thought process. After a moment, he finally speaks back up. This time, however, his voice is much lower than it was before.]

I'm... I'm not sure, Naoi. I really don't know. Maybe...

[Naoi stays quiet, just listening as closely as he can to Otonashi when he talks. Not even he knows. Ever since he got here, Naoi's been constantly thinking about it. Is this really some fucked up version of heaven or is this really that second chance at life--a real life, not that 'life', if that's what you want to call it, he had being trapped in a school.

No. That isn't right. This can't be...

He grits his teeth and looks off to the side, hiding his face so Otonashi can't see his eyes watering. His entire body tenses but his voice stays firm] Some messed up second chance this is then, huh? Malnosso people, experimenting, what kind of shit did we do to deserve this? [It isn't right. Especially not for Otonashi, he deserved better than a fate like this. No matter how glad Naoi may be that Otonashi is in fact here with him, he knows Otonashi should have gone to a better place than this.

It takes a minute, but he relaxes again, his shoulders drop and he brings a hand up to his eye to wipe any stray tears away. No, he's not crying because he's sad, it's out of frustration] I'm sorry.

[Otonashi goes quiet again when Naoi looks away. He notices that tension though. Naoi's crying, isn't he? And he has a point too. Being used for experiments definitely isn't the best way to spend a "second life", as they may as well call it. Second chance, second life... Same thing. But even then, it's more lifelike than being trapped in a school like Naoi was, isn't it? That kind of life was just too perfect. At least life here actually has barricades, bumps, and hardships in the road like a true life has.

But then again, what does he know? He was never trapped in that school himself; he was picked up right away by Yuri and the rest of the SSS. So he can't really tell exactly how Naoi is feeling. Then there's also the fact that he's completely new to this place and has yet to experience any of those experiments. Between the former and the latter... he can't really explain to Naoi that it's more lifelike than the afterlife was, can he?

So for now--at least until he's actually been here for some time--it's probably best not to try and lecture Naoi. For now, Otonashi places a hand on top of Naoi's head, ruffling his hair gently and reassuringly.]

Don't apologize; it's okay. Just don't worry about it for now though, alright? Let's just make the best of it.

How?! How can you make the best of something like this... [It comes out almost instantly. His voice raised but his anger and frustration aren't aimed at Otonashi. It's more like he's trying to yell at the Malnosso, where ever they may be.

Fucking tears. This time he brings both hands to his face in a desperate attempt to wipe them all away so he can see and so Otonashi won't see them. Why is it that Otonashi can always somehow bring out this weak side of him? He hates it so damn much but he can't help but surrender to it. For a minute, he just stands there, rubbing his eyes before speaking again since the words aren't stuck in his throat anymore.]

That day, graduation. I thought--I thought I would never see you again. I didn't want to go but I knew we had no choice! [He takes a deep breath] So... I just invisioned you living the second life you deserved to be able to make myself let go. I knew you would be happy where ever you ended up.

[He pauses]

This isn't what I invisioned... the second life you deserve isn't that of some lab rat!! [His gaze at the ground the whole time]

[He knows that the frustration isn't directed toward him. Even then though, it does somehow rub off on him. Otonashi isn't mad at Naoi either; he's mad at the Malnosso. Not because he's upset about being here though, because he couldn't honestly care less. He's only been here for a few days, after all. No way to complain about that just yet. But Naoi? Naoi clearly doesn't like it here. And if it's upsetting him, then well... That's just not fair.

But they don't have a choice, do they? So Otonashi grabs Naoi's shoulders, looking straight at him. ~~Chill your balls Naoi.~~]

Why? Why?! That's pretty obvious, isn't it? We're already stuck here in this place and there's nothing we can do about it. For now, at least. The only thing we can do is at least try to enjoy ourselves as much as possible.

Not everyone enjoyed being in the afterlife, did they? No. But we still tried to enjoy it and live it to the fullest, all the way 'til the end. Even after fighting all of the shadows, we were still trying to enjoy ourselves with the--

[He pauses. ...Graduation. With what Naoi's saying, it almost seemed like he already went through it. Otonashi was just about to though. How is this even possible...? No, this isn't the time to ponder over that. He sighs and pulls Naoi into a hug.]

I'm happy here, Naoi. I really am. I've met some nice people already and... yeah, I haven't been through those experiments yet, but it's okay. It's... just another bump the SSS has to get through, right? It's... just another bump that we can get through together.

[When he's turned around, he tries to look away from Otonashi's eyes but finds it to be an incredibly hard thing to do. He wants to push him away, but he can't bring himself to, so instead he just stands there, listening a bit more intently than usual, like he's trying to take it all to heart.

He won't admit it, but Otonashi does have a bit of a point. He knows he's right... but he can't bring himself to fully accept it. No matter how much this situation is like that damned school, it's still not fair. He refuses to calmly accept all of this as it is and just be happy. He won't end up like those NPCs... he won't.

...But maybe he'll try to enjoy it. Yeah, as long as Otonashi is here and is with him--he'll try to enjoy the time he has here with him. Only with him of course.

Just like last time, the hug surprises him and even as relaxed as he becomes as he's embraced by his best friend, he makes no attempt in returning the hug. He simply stands there, face buried in the other's shoulder with a soft smile pulling at his lips and eyes watering] Together, right. [There's a brief pause, his voice quieting down as he begins to speak again] So then you promise you won't leave?

[Hugging Naoi... It's really nostalgic, isn't it? While Otonashi does it, he recalls when he did the last time. Last time, he was pretty much just a complete stranger. But now? Now he's one of his closest friends. Because of that, it just feels so... different. And hopefully, now it's also more comforting and reassuring for Naoi.

When Naoi speaks up, Otonashi pulls back from the embrace, his hands still resting on his shoulders. He smiles and nods.]

Right, together. And I promise I won't leave. For as long as you're here, I'll be here too.

[With that, he'll ruffle Naoi's hair once more.]

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Third Fall - [Voice]

[Action] But that's terribleee.

[Action] it's estellewonderful.avi

[Action] It is not!

[Action] It is too! and you know it C:

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