personavelvetroomdr | 🌒 [Open]

... ... ... ... ?

What is...?

I shouldn't... be awake...

[In the Velvet Room...]

[It's courteous of whatever's going on with Igor's plan here that Hamuko is dressed. She probably shouldn't even have a body... whatever she has going on now... did her body fall comatose without her? Did it die? If it was alive, she surely should be much older. ... ... ... Maybe that all doesn't really matter, right now. She's here, gifted a chance to be around others again. The pinboard catches her attention first, of course. Signs of other people... so many little notes, talking about multiple versions of the same person running around. That's... that's charming... that's fun. ...Even if the notes about Ken Amadas make her sad...]

Hmm... I don't see any other 'me' off the bat...

[She'll take a few minutes once given a pen and some pink paper to doodle a little version of herself, signed with her name and phone number, and add it to the corner of the pinboard.]

[Inaba, Central Shopping District]

[What a fun little town! A charming place... hey, isn't this the town she went to for the volleyball camp? She loved the accommodations, but it's so nice to actually wander the streets and see the little shops. This place is SO rural, Hamuko had never really visited a place this remote, even when jumping between foster homes.] Let's see... what's the good spot for the locals? [No point being a complete tourist shmuck!!]

[Shibuya, Underground Mall]

[Well, since nothing costs anything here... might as well get some cute new clothes, right? Who knows how long she'll be around here, and 'dreaming up' new outfits didn't seem to be a thing. No lucid dreaming here - somehow, Hamuko felt a lot happier with that in mind. Still... the fashion is so different!!]

I just want one cute orange top...!! Is orange out of style? Dang it...

[Iwatodai Dorms]

[Of all of the places she's been having fun goofing off and exploring in, the dorms... she couldn't quite get the courage to open the front. Not just yet.]

Not even Koromaru is out front right now. ...I've gotta apologize...

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Why? I owe nothing to a broken world. Or do you expect me to single-handedly fix it? Besides, all those that view the world as more than relationships of power ultimately lose to those who don't. Removing the shackles of expectations and morality, letting everyone in full control of their destiny, that is the fairest outcome."

"No one can do anything alone... of course you couldn't singlehandedly 'fix' anything. But that doesn't mean you can't... make a difference. It doesn't mean that you couldn't protect someone that matters to you," she protested, weakly.

Idly, she stirred her rice with her fork.

"...It's scary to lose people you love. But you should still cherish them while they are alive."

"There isn't anyone I love who is alive," he answered dryly.

"...Are you afraid to love anyone else?"

"That's not it."

It was, in fact, part of it, at least before. But Ken himself wasn't aware of that.

"Is it so hard to believe that I just don't care? I don't care about what happens to this stupid world. I will have my fun, and if in the end I get tired of living then everything will end. It's as simple as that."

"It is hard to believe. Because I remember, after losing everyone, thinking 'what's the point?'..."

Before ever becoming a member of SEES, after that wreck. In those homes full of warmth for everyone but her.

"I don't understand what's supposed to be fun, thinking about killing other people. Even if you decide to die."

"Killing other people isn't fun in itself. What matters is that absolute freedom... it's not really something you can understand without having experienced it. You are still imprisoned. I was still imprisoned for the longest time. You just have to let go of all those silly notions holding you back..."

"Silly notions? Like... caring for others. Seeing the good in those that are good. Enjoying time with them, for however long or short it lasts. I don't think I will, Amada-kun."

"You do you," he lazily admitted. "But caring about so or so should be your own choice, not stem from any rule imposed by any society or morality. That's what I'm saying. You should be free."

"...I think you're the one caging up, of the two of us."

She looked at him, gauging his expression.

"It's normal to feel close to others. Not the other way around."

"I am not caging up," he answered, his tone rising slightly. "I am not even against the very concept of caring for someone else, if you'd bothered to listen. If I was truly devoid of all care, I would have killed all of you the moment I stepped foot in this place. That would have been the smart thing to do if consolidating power was the only thing on my mind."

He took a deep breath to calm down a little, and his tone gets somewhat normal again.

"But I feel kinship with most people here. I just want to open your eyes... your place is above, not below! As rulers, not slaves!"

That surprised her. But it also brought a sad smile to her face - she relaxed a little in her shoulders, leaning back against the park bench.

"Do you feel lonesome, too?"

He was so strange, so uncanny...

...But this was far from her first brush with the uncanny, wasn't it?

"What's a slave, to you, then?"

"Look at everyone here! So many blessed with extraordinary abilities, having done great things in their homeworlds, and then what? Did they get any reward? Does anyone outside of very small groups even care? No! The corrupt world will still come down on them with its demands, with its abuse. They are still expected to obey, to serve, to endure."

It was not a direct answer to any of her questions, but it did answer something nonetheless.

"Humanity has a lot of growing and changing to do, it's true..." she agreed with a slight hum. "...That just motivates me to protect those that aren't corrupt. To protect those that are weak, and just trying to live their lives."

"You're wasting your time. People have tried for millenia. Individual humans can, but humanity as a whole will never change."

"I believe in them. We've come so far already, haven't we? From the grueling injustices of old. We keep facing new ones, but... this, too, shall pass. I staked my life on it, and I would do it all over again."

"That's very commendable, but I won't sacrifice everything on the off-chance they can indeed change."

"What's a slave, to you, Amada-kun?"

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