004. Action for Violet City/Video

[ardent]

[ACTION]

[Perhaps strangely for the late evening hours on a Sunday, there are lights on in the school in Violet City tonight; Ishimaru usually avoids coming here in the evenings for that reason - surely it would look suspicious if someone were to come by and see that, or notice someone wandering around in there through the windows - but he has been coming by here once classes let out for the day once in a while, and tonight...well. It's been a long week.

It had taken him some time to convince himself that being here was okay (it is public property, as far as he can tell, so he's not in danger of trespassing, and surely it can't be breaking and entering if the door is unlocked); he'd run into a janitor yesterday who didn't seem fazed at his being there, and didn't seem to mind as long as he left things as he found them. It isn't as though he does much here, anyway; he mostly just wanders around, enjoying the feel of the place. Schools have always had very distinct feelings associated with them, as far as he goes; even his time in Hope's Peak hasn't managed to tarnish that.

About the only thing it's effected is the way he makes sure to leave the windows open and unblocked by shades while he's here.

So he's clearly visible to passersby, should there be any this evening, though he's got his back to the outside; he's got chalk in his hand, quickly adorning the chalkboard in front of him with words written briskly in steady, straight lines.

Live with simplicity, fortitude and vigor.

The foundation of hard work is the spirit to succeed.

Sacrifice is freely given, not yours to demand; give freely of yourself when possible.

Do what you can with your life; it's the only one you've been given.

Do not tear down when you can build up; do not destroy when you can create.

Respect all life as though it were your own.

They're simple phrases, really; things to be kept in mind, thoughts that he needs to remind himself from time to time. He thinks for a moment before scrawling one more down, and then he steps back, surveying his work.

We are not dead yet.

It had struck him as horribly morbid, when he'd first heard it; it's still painful, but it brings with it a dark sense of comfort. We are not dead yet.

That one gets underlined.]


[VIDEO]

[Well, judging from the background of the video, Ishimaru hasn't quite left the school building yet -

...all right, he's not even in the process of leaving, as several of those lines are still clearly visible on the board behind him, but still. He'll wipe them before he leaves, definitely.

However, for the time being, he has something of a question; it's been bothering him for quite some time now, actually.]

A lot of people seem to have been brought here during times of stress or conflict in their lives - in fact, almost everyone I've seen has been like that! Is there anyone here from a world that's actually peaceful and in order?

[It hasn't quite hit him that this isn't just something you ask people, good lord.]

Of course, even if things are dark for you now back home, the focus shouldn't be on futility, but rather on hope and possibilities! Even if your world is a dark one and your circumstances are unfortunate, it's still nice to hear about the positive times, so if you have any of those, they can be shared as well, if you like.

I hope that today was good to you, and if not, that tomorrow will be better - anything can be overcome with hard work, inner strength and cooperation!

[...again, it's been a long week, and he tends to solve issues with his own sense of spirit by screaming encouragement at others; it usually works, for the most part.]

Comments

[ardent]

[He will...accept that, after a moment of hesitation; after her words are out there, however, you can practically hear the record scratch because crap.]

Ah! I know I owe you writing assignments and they're incredibly late - it's completely inexcusable; I'll be sure to get them to you immediately!

[fretting fretting fretting fretting oh my god]

As for my personal business...it's been one thing after another, to be honest, but it seems to be working itself out, finally!

[doitrockapella]

[Oh, lord, this kid. Somebody better get him an intervention because if he reacts like this all the time, she's not going to be able to keep herself from fucking with him nonstop.]

I told you, take your time. The only deadlines in your course of study are the ones you impose on yourself, remember?

[Don't laugh don't laugh don't laugh don't laugh okay yeah she's just going to motion to the chalkboard instead.]

Besides, you've clearly been studious. Are these your wise words to live by?

[ardent]

[Clearly, this arrangement of theirs can only end well.]

...some of them, not all. I have many; these are just the ones that came most immediately to mind tonight.

[doitrockapella]

Which suggests they're particularly significant to whatever mood you're in tonight, doesn't it?

[She's not even trying to be right; just to provoke him into an answer.]

[ardent]

...I guess so. I've been having a lot of thoughts about home, that's all.

[doitrockapella]

Don't we all. But I see I'm the only one in...red shoes.

[She teases, clicking her heels once for emphasis.]

Have you been hoping to go back?

[ardent]

Never - not if I can help it!

[That's a bit too vehement to be natural, even for him; he's quick to rein it back in.]

I just miss my classmates sometimes, that's all.

[doitrockapella]

Never?

[And up go her eyebrows; she's heard a lot of answers to that question before, but never one like that.

...

If he doesn't want to go back because he is dead and that means this brilliant teenage kid is dead — oh, Ishimaru's universe, she will flip tables.]

The ones who aren't here, you mean. You have your brother and a few of them here with you, if I'm remembering correctly, don't you?

[ardent]

My brother and two others, yes - I'm very glad to have them here with me, but there are several more that I think about from time to time!

[He's quiet for a moment before turning back to the board, darkening a few sections of words that aren't as firmly-written as the rest while he thinks.]

I'm sorry for complaining - it's deplorable, really, to do things like that during a first meeting.

[doitrockapella]

[She just looks at him a moment, processing this in silence, ruminating on the possibilities and implications of the world this boy (this child, he can't be much older than Zack and Ivy, even) left behind, that it was his home and he never wants to see it again.

Then, as if possessed by some inexplicable compulsion, she heads to the board and finds a piece of chalk herself, searching out a free spot so that she can chalk down a set of lines of her own.

Hold to the point of most tension; the arrow will fall from you when it is right to do so.

It looks out of place next to his in a number of ways — in orientation, in handwriting. And perhaps most significantly, in content.

When she's finished, she stares at the letters a minute, like it wasn't just her own hand that put them there — like she's searching for an answer in them.]

You're not complaining.

[She's quiet again.]

How many of them are you hoping to see?

[ardent]

[He watches her in silence before shifting his grip on his own bit of chalk, beginning to write as he speaks.]

There are fifteen of us.

[We acquire the strength we have overcome.]

So eleven more, I guess.

[doitrockapella]

There's a certain trend that seems to accompany people who are brought here. A sort of magnet effect, you could call it. When people from the same world arrive, it tends to be people who know each other, ones they're somehow closely entangled with. There's also a snowballing effect in corollary — the higher the concentration of people from a given world, the faster they seem to be brought here.

[She doesn't take her eyes off the chalk. Not yet.]

I've never been magnetic enough for it, myself. But I've known people who have.

[And now at last she glances at him, quiet.]

If there's four of you here already, you stand a good chance of seeing more of them again, too.

[ardent]

[...huh.]

The first of us arrived here about three months ago; my brother and I arrived two weeks after that. The fourth was about a month ago.

[He mulls that over for a moment.]

"More" of them isn't enough, though. We need all of them.

[doitrockapella]

Determined to catch them all, are you?

[That gets a faint smile out of her.]

Good.

[Set your sights high and settle for nothing less. She likes him even more, for that.]

[ardent]

Of course I am!

[Good on you for not prying, Carmen, he appreciates it.]

I think they'd like it here, anyway - this place has been good to all of us so far.

[doitrockapella]

Two and a half months here. How many Pokemon do you have by now?

[Be afraid, Ishimaru; the next step after this is a request to be introduced.]

[ardent]

I have ten, and two eggs on top of that!

[...at least he doesn't have any of the...particularly destructive ones with him...]

[doitrockapella]

And which ones did you bring with you tonight?

[Particularly destructive is a subjective term.]

[ardent]

I have five of them - two of them stay in the box while I'm travelling, for their own good. Two more of them are currently with my brother - one for companionship, the other to let me know if something happens - and another is too young to leave the hotel very much. So I only have five on me, for now.

[...and one of the eggs, which he's pretty sure he's killed. Again.]

[doitrockapella]

I have a few like that — permanent residents of the box, both for their own good and for the good of...everyone else they might come into contact with.

[Fucking Isabelle, man.]

Another two I never go anywhere without. The rest I aim to rotate so they all get their chance to see the world and practice their social skills.

[ardent]

...which two don't you go anywhere without? Is it for personal reasons, or a matter of security?

[doitrockapella]

One is my starter. We've been partners for this long; I don't see any reason to change that now. The other is more...

[She retrieves her Gear and holds it up, waggling it lightly for emphasis.]

...incidental.

[HOW ENIGMATIC. But not for long, as she types a few words into her Gear and then turns it so that Ishimaru can inspect the screen himself.]

> Say hello, Zack.


???

HELLO ZACK |

[ardent]

[He flinches a little at that, his eyes wide, but he actually manages to recover himself somewhat this time before he just...kind of freaks out; his gaze is quick to dart back in Carmen's general direction.]

One of those Pokémon made up of computer code...? One of my classmates has something like that, if that's the case!

[doitrockapella]

[It never gets old, really.

She'll spare Ishimaru the sight of Zack hopping in and out of the Gear — she didn't miss the flinch, of course, and there is a line between friendly unsettling and just being rude — but she does key in a request for Zack to come out, please, if he's not in the middle of something too important, and sets it down so he can emerge relatively out of sight.

But meanwhile, recognition hits.]

Oh? Your classmate wouldn't happen to be a girl named Chihiro Fujisaki, would it?

[ardent]

[He seems to perk up a bit at that, because good job, Fujisaki.]

Ah, yes, that would be her! Fujisaki-kun is very talented with computers and programming; she started out with a Porygon, I believe!