IC Contact/Voicemail

[ardent]

[VOICE/TEXT/VIDEO; OPEN TO ALL]

"You've reached Kiyotaka Ishimaru; I seem to have missed you! My sincerest apologies for that - but if you leave your name and state your business, firmly and concisely, I'll return your contact as soon as I can!

Until then, I look forward to speaking to you; do what you can to make your day pleasant and productive, and be sure to keep your head up!"

[Please state in the subject line if OOC planning is preferred and we can handwave like the wind, but otherwise IC will be assumed!]

Comments

[ardent]

...There really needs to be a limit to your generosity.

[superordinary]

...I guess so. [ Ishimaru does have a point. :|b ] People can take advantage of it.

[ardent]

[Of course he does.

As it stands, however, he just hesitates a bit before trying to press on with it.]

...I don't want to see anyone do that to you, Naegi-kun. Especially not someone like Enoshima - I'll do what I can for you, you know that, but you need to take care of yourself as well!

[superordinary]

T-thanks, Ishimaru-kun. I'll try not to let anyone do that to me again.

[ He hasn't forgotten about Maizono trying to set him up to take the fall for her. ]

[ardent]

Again-

[...ah.]

...Well, I should hope no one's considering anything like that here.

[superordinary]

I hope I actually notice it before it's too late if someone tries anything. With Maizono-san, my feelings for her... I didn't even consider the possibility of being manipulated by her.

[ardent]

[And that isn't exactly striking him right, though he can't really work out why.]

...Do you have any negative feelings toward Maizono-kun at all, for what she did?

[superordinary]

[ He shakes his head at that. ]

No. My feelings are different [ read: his infatuation died in a ditch somewhere. ] but I don't feel angry or anything like that. I just wish she hadn't done what she did.

[ardent]

[Huh.]

...You really are a better person than I am, Naegi-kun. At least, that's what I believe.

[superordinary]

Eh? N-no, I'm not a better person than you, Ishimaru-kun.

[ardent]

[Ohhhh god, he's getting fired up now. Do we really want Ishimaru fired up because he is getting there in a hurry.]

Well, obviously not in the sense of justice and morals, because that's what I'm known for - you would have been accepted to Hope's Peak with my qualifications were that the case! But I think...in my time in Johto, I think I've learned that there's more to it than that - obviously justice and morals are important, but there are other elements toward being a truly good person that need to be taken into account alongside those, and I think you possess a fair few of them!

So I believe there's a lot of things that I can learn from you, Naegi-kun - or perhaps I should call you Naegi-sensei from now on!

[oh jesus is he serious because it sounds like he is]

[superordinary]

[ Well, whatever he was expecting, this wasn't quite it. ]

Y...you don't have to call me that.

[ He doesn't seem to be opposed to it, though. He sort of likes the sound of "Naegi-sensei", actually. ]

You've changed, Ishimaru-kun. I think you've really grown as a person... and as a friend.

[ardent]

Ah...do you think so?

[He seems sort of awkward about it, though not necessarily in a bad way; it's clear that he's not entirely sure what to do with it, and his gaze flicks away for a bit, somewhere toward the join between the far wall and the ceiling as though he'll find something to say just...magically written there.

Of course, however, there's nothing (and if there had been he honestly would have been a bit annoyed at whomever had vandalized the ceiling), and he returns his attention to Naegi eventually.]

It's been difficult here, though not in the way that the situation in Hope's Peak was difficult - I still don't know what to do a lot of the time.

[He finds himself biting his lower lip a bit while he considers it; he makes himself stop immediately.]

But I think that's...okay? At least for now. It's a learning experience.

[superordinary]

That's a normal thing, isn't it? We're safe here, but we've been torn away from our ordinary lives. And unlike others we can't just go back and pick up where we left off.

[ The tea's probably been ready for a while by now. Naegi brings the rim of the cup to his lips and sips it gingerly; the liquid is still hot, but not scalding, and it tastes good. ]

What do you want to do, Ishimaru-kun?

[ Have you figured out what to do with your life and made any goals yet. Naegi hasn't. ]

[ardent]

[That gets a bit of a twitch out of him, but he manages to remain more or less steady for now.]

We're going to be here for a long time, right? So I guess it's a matter of trying to find goals that are appropriate for this world, instead of whatever we left back home. I haven't formed any sort of plan yet, though I'm sure that will happen in time - I've spent most of my life trying to help my family, after all, and since that's not...

[...

...awk...ward...]

...W-Well, I'll come up with something!

[superordinary]

Yeah. For the rest of our lives, hopefully. [ Sip, sip. ] That means having to...leave our previous goals behind and start from scratch.

It's probably easier for me than it is for me. Unlike you, I didn't dedicate most of my life to anything... but I'm sure you can think of something. And you're determined enough to make it a reality.