012. Video/Action for Goldenrod City

[ardent]

[VIDEO]

[Ishimaru is outside again today, seeming to be taking advantage of the nice weather while it holds; at least he's looking at the camera today, and his gaze is shifting...a little less, maybe. He still seems a bit tired but at least he's calm; the view behind him is, once again, that square in Goldenrod near the Center.]

The place I came from put a lot of emphasis on punishment...both for what we did, and what we didn't do. Failure to act in a certain way, to do as we were told, was punished; failure to not act in the way that we were expected to was likewise punished. Rules and laws and "justice" were used to control us, not to guide or help us; instead of keeping us safe, they were used to tear us down.

No matter what we did, we were going to be wrong.

[His voice remains firm but calm through all that; he's not shouting, but he doesn't seem about to cry, either. Just...working through it, really.]

When situations are hard like that, and seem unwinnable, it's easy to forget what justice is intended for. It's meant to protect people, and most importantly, it's meant to give people hope - for themselves, and for the future!

So even if...even if you haven't always done what's right, even if you've made mistakes or taken punishment - if you choose to do right afterwards, the wrong you've done doesn't have to define you!

I think there comes a time when you deserve to be considered good again!

[...yep, there's the shouting.]

It's not going to be easy - it's something I'm still working on, too. But if we're willing to work hard and not lose hope, I think we'll all be all right, in the end! We just have to do our best.

I hope today is both good and productive for you, and if not, I know that tomorrow will be better!


[ACTION]

[Returning to Goldenrod City has been...strange.

It's not strange in the way that coming to a new place tends to be strange, or perhaps returning to an old place that's changed drastically in your absence; there's no lack of familiarity, and if anything the strangeness is caused by just the opposite - there's a weird sense of returning home to it, and Ishimaru isn't entirely sure what to do with that. He hasn't felt that way since before Hope's Peak; it's weird to experience it now, but it's not altogether unwelcome.

...granted, it's not something he has long to dwell on; he finishes the video and takes a while to just...collect himself, but eventually he heads back to the house. And as soon as he manages to get the front door opened there's a sudden sharp skittering of nails against the floor and the vibrations of twenty-odd Eevees hup-hup-hupping their way down the stairs, and he flinches a little and braces for the moment where the swarm hits -

And then there's a thud, and there is quite simply nothing.

...

... ... ...

Huh.

It takes him a moment to open his eyes, given that they'd slid closed while he was in the middle of preparing for impact; apparently the thud was the fuzzball legion all sitting in unison, and now they're just kind of parked on the floor and headtilting like confused pugs because grandpa's home and we sat and why is he just standing there.

He's clearly going to be spending some time playing with the fuzzballs today, because oh my god they did so well. c: ]

Comments

[freshprints]

[These are formalities, she silently reminds herself. What they're doing right now, these are just idle formalities, and as long as they can keep to that without going wildly off the rails somehow, this will work out okay. Probably.]

I've been fine.

[Sort of. Not really. It's been...complicated, but there's no need to bring that up right now.]

How was the trip back?

[ardent]

It was better than the trip over, at least - I'm guessing you were keeping in contact with Naegi-kun?

[freshprints]

Mmhmm. We spoke a few times, and I heard about the Ice Path. And your...bloober.

[It's still weird, but you know what, whatever.]

I assume you received Alice-san's chocolates? She insisted on joining in while I was making them.

[ardent]

I did.

[God, the force with which we are trying right now.]

...It was good of you to allow her to.

[freshprints]

I tried to explain the difference between honmei choco and giri choco, but I'm not sure that the explanation...took.

[TAKE MY HAND AND WE'LL MAKE IT, I SWEAR.]

But I suppose it doesn't matter that much, and she seemed happy enough.

[ardent]

...If I had to take a guess, I'd say she didn't like the "obligation" part of the explanation and decided everything was honmei choco as a result.

[Please tell him that wasn't it.]

[freshprints]

That was most of it, actually.

[Yeah, uh. About that. SURPRISE, MOTHERFUCKER.]

I also mentioned that the quality of the chocolate tends to differ between honmei choco and giri choco. She was adamant that you get the best, regardless of the significance attached.

[ardent]

[Damn it. Parker...]

I'm not surprised that she took it like that, actually - either way, I know what she meant.

[...]

I'm assuming everything's still reasonably in order? We were gone for a while.

[freshprints]

Close enough to the way you left it.

[...]

We didn't engage in anything major of note while you were gone.

[ardent]

[He nods a bit at that, the noise he gives in response confirming that at the very least he heard what was said; he diverts his attention to the fuzzballs after a moment.]

...We don't think Ishida is going to be an issue.

[The words are abrupt, but again, they're a statement, nothing else.]

[freshprints]

If that could be avoided, it'd be for the best.

[Maybe that's an overly sterile and emotionless summation of things, but it's still a valid one.]

[ardent]

That's what I want as well - I don't...

[He pauses for a moment. Shakes his head.]

I'm doing what I can.

[freshprints]

...

[She regards him quietly a moment, in her usual semi-creepy way, but then: ]

We all have an interest in avoiding Ishida. It's not something you'll have to do without help.

[ardent]

...Ah.

[It's obvious that that's hit him strangely and he isn't sure what to do; his gaze darts away briefly, though he's making an effort to reply in a manner that's...halfway timely, anyway, without retreating into his head and thinking about it for entirely too long and forgetting to actually say anything at all.]

I'm sorry. For...what happened with all of that, back in Hope's Peak.

I've been told that I don't need to apologize for it, but it doesn't seem right not to.

[freshprints]

[Perhaps surprisingly, the answer when it comes gets her to duck her head a little bit, reflecting on how conspicuously similar it sounds to something she'd said herself not long ago — an odd sort of apology that seemed warranted despite its apparent ill fit.

To respond to something like that...how did it go?]

I understand.

[...Probably not like that, um.]

It's good to be here, where we have the freedom and perspective to be able to exchange amends like that. Away from school.

[...dammit, Kirigiri.]

[ardent]

[For a moment he kind of stares, though oddly enough that answer seems to settle him a bit.]

It is, isn't it?

[ ... :|a ]

I don't feel guilty about what happened, exactly; from what I've heard, none of us expected that to happen, and it wasn't really anything I had much control over anyway. I've been told that I didn't hurt any of you, and that's...definitely good.

But even if it's not exactly anyone's fault, that doesn't mean that I'm not sorry that it happened. Because it did, and people were affected by it. So you deserve the apology anyway.

[freshprints]

[She cocks her head a bit.]

And it makes things better all around, having said it. Even if practically speaking it accomplishes fairly little.

[ardent]

It does, yes - although making amends is a bit weird from a purely practical standpoint anyway.

[freshprints]

But do you feel better, Ishimaru-kun?

[ardent]

I think so. Why?

[freshprints]

Because I do, too.

[...and what the gently caress just happened there.]

[ardent]

Well...I'm glad to hear that!

[...he has no idea, but you know what, considering the many ways that could have gone badly, he's going to take it.]

[freshprints]

It's good that you and Naegi-kun had a good trip.

[...Actually, wait, if Ishimaru's coherent, this might be a good source of deets...

STOP IT KIRIGIRI CLASSMATES ARE MORE THAN SIMPLY DEETS-DISPENSERS]

He's...all right, too?

[ardent]

I think so, yes! He seemed to enjoy himself, anyway.

[Hmm.]

We talked about some things - I've told him that he needs to be more willing to stand up for himself. Maybe not all the time, if he doesn't want to, but at least when it comes to being asked to do dangerous things; he shouldn't just do them without thinking.

[freshprints]

...That's good. I also think that's something he should do.