RMH
Claire Keane
Sade Olutola
Kaledo Art
No title available
if i look back, i am lost
Xuebing Du
ellievsbear
we're not kids anymore.
i don't do bad sauce passes
Origami Around
★
Alisa U Zemlji Chuda
DEAR READER
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wallacepolsom
Misplaced Lens Cap
Monterey Bay Aquarium
titsay
2025 on Tumblr: Trends That Defined the Year
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@ocularhorrorshow
Hey Yo!
Does anyone still check on their rp blogs anymore? Can anyone see this? If so, then I want you to know that I'm thinking about opening up another DR RP group like this one, or reviving this one. Or something. I had lots of fun here and I miss it and I wanna do something about it. If you're interested too, hit me up for real. My main is rjrovano.
((So hey, how's it going, everyone?))
you sit down to watch the lion king with me. i point out that leafcutter ants do not live in africa within the first five minutes. you begin to realize that you have made a horrible mistake. i continue to point out every usage of a tiger’s roar in place of a lion’s. you are at the door, but it is locked.
God our Father, Your power brings us to birth, Your providence guides our lives, And by Your command we return to dust.
She hadn’t started out so bad.
Once the 79th class of Hope’s Peak had finally made it out of the Mutual Killing Game, they separated – well, Kioku broke off from the group. As the rest of the surviving classmates went off in search of the Future Foundation, Kioku headed to the Higa family home, only to find it in ruin. She stayed in the ruins, thumbing through her great-grandfather’s old books. Once whatever was left of her family was laid to rest in the back yard, she finally said goodbye, and went off with the intention of finding those responsible.
Around the same time, a Catholic minister named Reverend Powell began wandering Japan. What Powell did was offer to lead in prayer for those who wanted it, and blessed those who did not. Powell was hailed and whispered about as an anarchist amongst chaos, someone who refused to let people leave this world in their much sought-after despair. They would rest in peace whether they liked it or not. Though the often run-into difference in religion sometimes made things confusing, Powell always left satisfied that the dead left the world in peace. And if they weren’t on their way out before Powell ran into them, that was fixed quickly by the small gun in Powell’s pocket. Right next to the flask.
When her classmates found her again, Kioku had just finished officiating another one of her funerals.
((Despair AU Kioku, sans Mastermind motivation))
Returning from his meeting with Maizono, Komaeda could have sworn he saw the figure of Kioku Haga retreating around the corner. He thought nothing of it until reaching his dorm room and finding a gift bag placed in front of his door. Placing Sayaka’s gift aside, Komaeda dug through the bag to find all you could ever need for a movie night, including a DVD, a various assortment of snacks, and a notepad and pen that he wasn’t sure how they fit in with the whole movie-themed present but still just as nice. He involuntarily smiled at the rather extravagant gift; there was no reason to go to such lengths for someone such as himself, but it made him pleased nevertheless.
Ah, how thoughtful, and so very… fitting. Just the sort of thing the filmmaker would do, she always treated him such such undeserved kindness that he didn’t understand. First a cake from Maizono and now this? Maybe people didn’t hate him as much as he thought. After scrimmaging through the bag a bit more, Komaeda located the card depicting a cartoon Kioku and chuckled to himself. He didn’t need the card to know who this all was from, even if he hadn’t seen her leaving. It was a shame he’d just missed her, but he had the feeling she wouldn’t have been able to stick around anyway. If she was going to, she would’ve called when he didn’t answer his door, so it was obvious she had better things to do.
Komaeda sighed softly. He was happy, of course, he’d never gotten so much recognition on his birthday, but still he felt a bit empty. It reminded him of his parents, and how distant they were, even on a day like this. Shrugging off his negative thoughts, Komaeda carefully picked up both gifts and struggled into his dorm where he placed them on the table.
The boy pulled out his phone and typed out a message for the filmmaker:
'Thank you for the gift, let's have a movie night and watch it together!!'
God bless Shozo Kodama. That man probably just saved Kioku’s job. Shimakage was far from an unreasonable man most of the time but he had a hard time overlooking Kioku’s young age and that, unfortunately, led to a lot of problems. But there was no need to fret as she was still employed. Young or old didn’t matter when money did most of the talking, and the money said that Kioku’s one feature-length movie was still playing to sold-out theaters worldwide a year and a half on and her direction was still in high demand for music videos and documentaries and other movies alike. So, with a graceful exit and a nearly silent obscenity, Kioku strode out of the office building and began making her way back to Hope’s Peak.
As she boarded the train, Kioku pulled her phone out of her pocket to look over what she’d missed. A couple of emails, a phone call from her dad that took a moment to reciprocate – he wasn’t one for catching up or small talk. He just wanted to know whether she’d be in town for her brother’s birthday. Finally, one missed text message. From Komaeda, of all people. Oh goodness, is he okay? Her fingers cold, she tapped the button on her screen only to see it was just a thank you. Oh yeah, she’d given him a birthday present. It didn’t take long to read, but only after a moment of relief did she finish and stumble across the magic words.
Movie night.
Movie night.
Movie.
Night.
A boy after her own heart.
‘I’d love to! That sounds like fun! When were you thinking?’
[x]
((I drew some shsl ocs to fool myself into thinking I'm actually being productive yes I did))
((the truth is I just wanted my two girls to duet))
What A Glorious Feeling (idolsayakamaizono)
Sayaka couldn’t help but crack a smile when Kioku agreed to help her name them. She really couldn’t wait to even see just what ridiculously silly named she would come up with for them. But, as Kioku talked and nodded along. She had been thinking the bear one would just be ‘Kuma-chan’ but now she felt like that one would be too obvious and…boring. She looked interested as Kioku kept talking about that panda trash can. “Really?!” She giggled and looked amazed as she said the panda was so much more than its species. She did wonder where Kioku was going with this, but either way, it was making her laugh. “Oh?! Higa-san you’re so silly—“ She heard the filmmaker pause so she listened in really intensely. Annnd that’s when Sayaka busted out laughing. “Pfff-heheheheh Kanri Jin! What a perfect name!” Kioku literally just named a trash can ‘janitor’ and Sayaka thought that was hilarious. It was mainly because it caught her off guard, but it was still funny! “Now I have to come up with something better than Kuma-chan for the bear! You’ve set the bar so high!” She giggled again, thinking that this situation was really funny. Here she was, idol pop sensation, laughing about trash cans.
She nodded as Kioku spoke up again about her being set for a while. “I think so too! I shouldn’t have to come back for a while since I’ve got everything I need for now!” Yes, because 5 things of water and 4 trash cans was exactly what she needed.
She followed Kioku to the counter and started placing everything on to it. Wow, she really did go overboard for ‘just a few things.’ Oops. Oh well, the snacks would be much appreciated by her roommate, and the trash cans were super cute! Sayaka kept glancing at the total, making sure it wasn’t too much (even if money wasn’t a problem for her). She was going to offer to buy Kioku’s item for her, as a thanks for shopping with her gift, but then Kioku spoke up about something else to the cashier. Blue 1? What was that? Sayaka looked over to her and saw the blue item in her hands. It looked like food dye, but she really couldn’t help but be curious and ask. “Eh? What’s what, Higa-san?” She pointed at the bottle as she swiped her card to purchase her things.
Ah, the satisfaction that came with a well-presented show was one of Kioku’s favorite things. She loved the laughter and the applause – even the critique was desirable, as long as it was some sort of reaction. Early on Kioku had wondered from time to time if she would like it better on screen as opposed to behind the scenes. But the fact of the matter was that Kioku was a storyteller at heart. If she couldn’t control what the characters were saying or doing she felt outright unfulfilled. She felt like a part of her would die if she ever had to act out someone else’s script. Not that she was totally opposed to directing it. She was currently awaiting and crossing her fingers over a reply from Michael Dougherty. As fun as psychological thrillers were, she was itching for a chance at a straight-up horror film.
Letting out a short hum, Kioku glanced over to the idol. “What, this?” She asked, gesturing to the bottle of powder. “This is food dye.”
“For drinks, specifically,” Kaz chimed in. “That powder wouldn’t work so well in, say, baked goods.”
“Unless it was already wet.”
“Not doughy, though. By then you’ve lost your chance.”
“Anyway,” Kioku said, turning back to Sayaka. “I’d been thinking over what we talked about, and I thought I’d give a shot to making you a drink of your own when we got back to Hope’s Peak – non-alcoholic, of course.” The filmmaker slid her two things along the counter, closer to the scanner so the cashier – Kaz, apparently – could reach. “I’m thinking something fruity, a little sweet. Maybe not citrus – unless you’ve got a strong draw towards that – since I feel like that calls for warmer colors.” One eye closed as another darted towards Kaz as he read off the price before shifting downwards as Kioku fished her wallet out of her sweatshirt pocket. “Besides, citrus kind of has a bite, and that just doesn’t seem… you, you know?” She asked, handing Kaz the money and taking the plastic bag, thanking him with a nod before the two headed out.
“Grenadine is kind of tart by itself, but I was thinking I could try and negate that by salting the rim with sugar,” The girl mused as they made their way back to the school. “That would leave the drink with a taste not unlike a maraschino cherry – those ones they put on top of sundaes. But, of course, that leaves whatever the actual drink is made of. I’m thinking either club soda, or I could try and make some blue lemonade.” Kioku bit her bottom lip, one eye closing as the other looked down and her hand went to her chin. “If I’m lucky I might be able to make a gradient of blue on the top and pink on the bottom. If I’m not, then it might end up a sort of blueish-purple. Of course, trial and error is expected whenever undertaking a new project, so I wouldn’t expect an ideal result the first time.” Kioku dropped her hand down to her side, letting out a soft chuckle.
“I’m sorry, Maizono. I kind of went off there, didn’t I?” She asked. “That all said, that’s just my idea. Would you be willing to let me give this a shot and, if so, would you care to taste test?”
blood orange
the blood of angry men
((Hey all!! I'm sorry for being so slow as of late -- school and life has been basically kicking my ass. @_@;;;
As a result, I'm actually kind of foggy on the goings on here. And what doesn't help is that my activity page doesn't show everything. So, if it wouldn't be too much trouble, could you please like this if I owe you a reply? Once I know who I need to write replies for I'll be on them quicker than a stereotypical southern metaphor!))
What do you think I am, dumb or something? [OPEN]
Aya stared at Kioku’s extended hand for a few seconds before reluctantly taking it into her own. She gave her a quick, firm handshake, then retracted her hand once more. She wasn’t fond of being being touched, especially unexpectedly, but a handshake wasn’t so bad. After all, she could control it, and thus prepare herself in advance. Besides, it would’ve been rude not to, and Aya was rude enough as it is. She was the queen of bad impressions, and she liked it that way. Others were such a bother.
Aya huffed slightly at the question, musing if she should even dignify it with an answer. “First off, I could hear you screaming from a mile away,” she scoffed, averting her gaze from the other. “Actually, I felt it first. What you were feeling I mean.” Aya’s frown intensified, and her voice grew cold. She hated talking about her talent, it took too much explaining. It wasn’t the kind of thing others could really grasped, not unless they could experience it for themselves. “I could feel exactly what you felt, maybe even more intensely. Anger, frustration, that kind of sinking helpless feeling in your gut that you get when no one’s listening to what you say no matter how hard to scream.” Gold orbs flitted back to stare straight into Kioku’s eyes. “All of it. I felt everything.”
"The phone thing, it just happened to land near me." She shrugged, "Don’t go thinking I went out of my way for you or something." Her words were harsh, but they didn’t hold the icy tone she’d had before. "You should really be less careless," Aya chastised the other with a slight scowl on her face. If that phone had hit her… well it wouldn’t have been a pretty sight.
"So, what was that conversation on the phone about anyway? It got you pretty riled up from what I could tell." She tried her best to pretty up her voice so as not to sound threatening, but the attempt was halfhearted at best. "I only heard bits and pieces." Even only hearing the parts she did hear, the blonde had a pretty good idea what was going on using context clues. Still, it’d be nice to have a conformation that her suspicions were correct.
A quick and concise handshake, nothing wrong with that. But was that just because that was how she shook hands, or did she really not like being touched? No. No, Kioku, stop. People aren’t characters. It’s not polite to over-analyze them without their consent, possibly in written form. But maybe, just maybe, she could write this into someone. The quick handshake could be a giveaway, and they could spend the whole first act not letting anyone into their personal bubble. Then they’d gradually and believably open up to someone special. The feel-good blockbuster of the summer: Every Other Movie About An Introvert Ever, directed by Kioku Higa, starring quiet and reserved person and their Manic Pixie Dream Person.
Actually, maybe that wasn’t the best idea. She’d have to think it over.
Kioku’s eyes widened a bit as a light blush crept across her cheeks. “A-a mile away, huh?” She asked, attempting to keep her tone casual. She didn’t think she was being that loud! She’d have to keep an eye on that from then on. Maybe only take Shimakage’s calls when she was actually in the woods. But she regained her composure as Aya continued, honestly growing more and more impressed with every passing sentence. “Yeah.” She said, once Aya had explained what she felt. That sinking, helpless feeling. That was exactly what Kioku herself had felt. “You felt all of that.” She said quietly, as though she were speaking to herself rather than to the girl she was now intently focused on. She let out an airy chuckle. “That’s amazing. I’ve never heard of anyone being able to do that before.”
Empathy was one thing, but actually and legitimately feeling what someone else was feeling? That was impressive.
Once the topic switched to her phone, Kioku bit the inside of her cheek. She, uh… she had been pretty careless with it, hadn’t she? Maybe Aya would understand – she knew how Kioku had felt at the moment. But that didn’t make blindly throwing your phone any more okay. “Oh, uh,” Kioku averted her gaze slightly, closing her left eye as her hand went to the back of her neck. “That was my boss on the phone. I work for Kadokawa Pictures – I make movies for them.” Duh. Super High School Level Filmmaker. “But I haven’t had a lot of time to devote to that since I came to the school. I mean, I do some writing and storyboarding, and I send it to the people who are still over there, but I haven’t been able to go in and actually shoot anything. So he’s trying to get me to come back, which I don’t have time to do, and…” Kioku sighed. “And he’s acting like I’m useless if I’m not working with a camera. Like I haven’t got any worth if I’m doing anything other than… well, everything. But I’m sure he’ll cool down eventually.”
Or have a heart attack. During the call she could practically see his entire head going red.
What A Glorious Feeling (idolsayakamaizono)
Sayaka giggled at Kioku asking if she was going to name them. That would be really silly! It would be quite funny if Kioku helped her name them, so she really couldn’t help but voice that thought. “Would you help me name them, Higa-san?!” She bit her lip, trying to repress her laughter. She was trying so hard to act as if she was serious right now, but this was making her laugh too much!
She grabbed all four of the trashcans and put two of them in the small basket she was carrying. “Eh? Oh, sure! If you wouldn’t mind carrying just one of the trashcans, that would be great! Thank you.” She handed Kioku one of the trashcans and smiled. “I think the brown bear one is my favorite, so we have to come up with a good name for it!” She giggled, thinking that this was still silly. “Oh hmm…” Sayaka glanced down to her list as Kioku asked her if that was everything. She thought that she had everything, but it turned out that she was missing one or two things! “I think the only other things I need are some drinks for the room actually! Maybe I’ll pick up my roommate a snack too.” She always bought more than she was supposed to get at the store. She really didn’t know how it happened, but it did.
Sayaka made her way back to the drink section to get her favorite kind of water! Yes, she would swear that this type of water tasted better than any other kind of water. She wasn’t a fan of soft drinks, but she picked up some for her roommate. If her roommate didn’t like soft drinks, then she supposed that she could always let another friend drink it when they came over. She got two things of soft drinks and 5 things of her favorite water. She should be good for a while on drinks now! Luckily, there were snacks by the drinks section. What kind of stuff did her roommate even like? Well…most people like chocolate, right? Sayaka picked up a normal chocolate bar and put that in her basket. That looked like everything to her! “Alright, I think that’s everything! I hope I didn’t take too long in getting things.” She giggled slightly, knowing that she took entirely too long for someone who literally came here to buy water and toothpaste.
Really silly it may have been, but it turned out to be a worthwhile inquiry; Sayaka had just asked for her help. Though the sad attempts at repressing her laughter gave away the fact that it wasn’t a serious request, it was obvious that the idol was being entertained by the whole ordeal. And what was Kioku if not an entertainer? “Certainly!” She said with a gusto almost unfitting of her before lifting the trashcan she’d taken from Sayaka to her eye level. “This one here, this is a panda.” She explained. “So an obvious choice would be Panda-San, or Panda-Chan. But take a good long look at this panda, Maizono; this panda is so much more than its species. This panda has quite a life ahead of it, full of promise and potential and crumpled up paper. Why, the sorts of things the future has in store for this panda is far beyond my comprehension and now…” She chuckled. “And now it’s being brought home by national pop sensation Sayaka Maizono. This young thing is part of an idol’s family now, so it needs a name it can live up to. A name that can sum up its purpose in life as an idol’s tool and faithful companion.” Kioku took a deep breath, pausing for dramatic effect.
“Kanri Jin.”
The panda trash can’s name was “janitor.”
She’d come up with the rest when Sayaka was ready, but she’d leave the naming of the other bear up to the blue-haired girl. It was her favorite, after all.
The dramatics over for the moment, Kioku watched and followed diligently as Sayaka picked up the last few things she needed. The soda and toothpaste and water that was honestly just as good from the tap – if not better, more than likely, seeing as they lived at Hope’s Peak – before she had wrapped things up. “Even if you did, it was necessary to get everything you needed.” Including, but not limited to, three extra trash cans. “Now you should be set for a little while, at least, and not need to come back for some time. I always think it’s good to take a little extra time and make absolutely sure you have everything you need.” Like three extra trash cans. “So, if you don’t need anything else,” Another trash can, perhaps? “Then let’s head up to the front!”
Kioku carefully placed Kanri Jin on the counter for the store clerk to see – peppering her actions with a quick “hey Kaz, how’s things?” – before stepping off to the side to let Sayaka purchase her things. As she spun the bottle of grenadine in her hand she let her mind wander, stopping the bottle after a minute and directing her attention back to the store clerk.
“Hey Kaz, you got any Blue 1 here?”
“Mmhmm. Aisle three, bottom shelf.”
“Thanks.” And off Kioku dashed to pick up her one more thing, coming back with a small jar of blue powder, labelled on the front as food dye.
Making Sayaka a personal drink sounded like a fun challenge, so why not?
「 Lights: √ Camera: √ Action...? | Ocularhorrorshow 」
The shading behind that tree looks incredible-oh! Look at the running track! I’m sure the group shots there look pretty. The trees here are so well taken care of, I almost feel like I should join some planting club. I wonder if that would be fun? Hmm-who’s that? They sure have a lot of lugga-oh…
Mahiru was brought back to reality by the sight of another student outside, making her realized what she was doing. If no one stopped her, she could stare out windows for hours and just study the world outside. It was fun, but time ran by incredible fast when she did, and her daydreaming had caused problems in the past.
Shaking her head, she spun on her heel and started for her luggage that had been lying in a heap near the front door. Rolling her largest bag into the bedroom, she began to sort through all of its contents. Small piles of clothes started forming all around her, all sorted by color. Once the clothes had been pulled out, she had much smaller things to put away as well.
Her textbooks, makeup, bedspread, laptop, and many other trinkets she brought with her were spread around her bedroom and the main living room, making it feel more like home. As she put away the last towel, she noticed that she hadn’t hung up her all of her clothes, but was feeling too exhausted from sorting through her things that she decided to take a short nap first.
Mahiru curled up on her newly made bed, closed her eyes, and tried to ignore the distant sounds of cars and people talking. But the sound of a door opening and closing caused her to bolt upright in bed-she had completely forgot she had a roommate. Jumping out of bed, and trying to fix her messy hair, she mentally prepared herself to meet whoever this was. Stepping out of her room, she waved to the girl, giving her a small smile.
"I-ah, hello! You must be my roommate? I’m Mahiru Koizumi, and I guess I’m also Super High School Level Photographer…? It’s nice to meet you." Kicking a pile of white shirts behind her, she looked her roommate over. The first thing that struck Mahiru odd was how small she looked, or maybe that was just the size of her clothes? "What’s your name?" She added, leaning down to pick up a book she had never finished.
Did everyone get to experience this at Hope’s Peak, or was Kioku just lucky? Was she on the route to being SHSL Roommate, or was she a bad one and that was why they kept cycling new ones through her dorm? Or maybe she wasn’t particularly good or bad – just popular. Or easy (to get a key from). By the end of the year everyone would have slept (in the same room) with Kioku. The young filmmaker really did get around.
Tasteless jokes aside, it shouldn’t have surprised Kioku as much as it did to find a bright and smiling new girl in her dorm. But what caught her attention more was the piled of clothes strewn about a good two-thirds of the room they shared. Kioku bit at the inside of her cheek – she wasn’t much a fan of widespread cloth but, she supposed, it spoke to her impeccable cleanliness that her new roommate thought she was getting a room to herself. That was Kioku’s story and she was sticking to it.
Her left eye slid shut as she glanced up at her new roommate, this Mahiru Koizumi. She seemed nice – perky, cute, and relatively normal – so she gave the girl a small smile of her own. “Pleasure’s all mine, Koizumi.” She said, holding out her hand for the photographer to shake. “I’m Kioku Higa, Super High School Level Filmmaker.” Once the introductions were out of the way Kioku slipped past her roommate and further into the room – careful not to touch anything. She’d give her new roommate a chance to get organized before horning in on the process herself. Kioku knew she certainly wouldn’t want anybody she didn’t know touching her stuff.
“So, photographer, huh?” She asked, attempting to get off on the right foot with this new friend. For some reason, that didn’t surprise her; she’d heard the name Koizumi before, and knew it had something to do with photography. That said, though, she wasn’t sure if she’d ever seen this girl’s work – and woe betide anyone who misbrands an artist’s work. She didn’t want to come off as one of those “if you’ve seen one, you’ve seen ‘em all” folks. Honestly, playing dumb seemed a safer alternative.
“How’d they find you? If you don’t mind my asking.”
What do you think I am, dumb or something? [OPEN]
Could this girl be any slower at taking her phone back? Aya resisted the urge to roll her eyes, but she frowned slightly and continued to stare harshly at the girl before her. This was why she didn’t do nice things for people; everyone was so annoying and slow! It was exhausting dealing with other people, the blonde much rather be alone.
Aya only hummed in reply and watched as the girl inspected her phone for damage with vague interest. She heard the phone vibrate and when she read the name of the person the blonde tensed slightly. She’d told him to leave her alone, and he still chose to contact her? That fucker was lucky she didn’t know who he was, because she was poised and ready to kill at this point. Her hatred of the man she’d never met was irrational, but all of Kioku’s frustration and anger had built up and intensified in Aya, and she was not as forgiving as this girl probably was.
At the sound of the flustered girl stuttering out an apology, Aya turned her gaze back to her and hummed again to indicate she heard her. “Huh? Don’t worry about it, it takes more than that to startle me,” she scoffed, crossing her arms across her chest. The girl continued to sputter out words, and the repetitiveness of it all got annoying far too quickly. Wow, she got it. She was sorry. Okay, stop get so choked up over nothing.
There was a pause, and Aya was just about to turn to leave, but then the girl introduced herself. At least she sounded more confident, as she seemed more composed than before. Aya thought about turning around and leaving anyway, but she figured she’d stay around for a bit. Just to see if that Shimakage bothered this girl, Kioku, anymore.
"Aya Kaneshiro," she responded curtly. She hesitated before revealing her talent, as it was more trouble than it was worth. "Super High School Level Empath."
Ooh goodness, if looks could kill… would this girl kill her? The stare was harsh, yes, but it was just a stare. Hardly the sort of thing Kioku could call glaring. No, that would probably come later. But that didn’t mean the stare itself wasn’t unnerving. One thing that Kioku had learned over years and years of film study was that if there was one thing villains of the screen shared it was just one minor characteristic – the audience rarely saw them blink. The audience was supposed to feel uneasy under the practically omniscient glare of the antagonist, and they were supposed to feel even a little bit frightened of them – something similar, perhaps, to what Kioku was feeling towards this girl now.
Forgiving? Well, that may have been so, but that probably wasn’t the right word. Rarely if ever did Kioku actually think a wrong towards her merited forgiveness, especially if someone hadn’t even tried to apologize or make up for it yet. But sometimes being angry was a chore – going out of her way to express anger at someone or avoid them enough to give them the cold shoulder wasn’t worth it most of the time. Sometimes? Yes, of course. Ask her aunt. But otherwise she mostly just forgave people because, to her, however they’d wronged her wasn’t worth putting effort into what normally just amounted to frustrated energy and no constructive way to use it. So normally she let things slide, and that probably meant she would forgive Shimakage as well – provided he didn’t just fire her. But even then, frustrated or not, there wasn’t a lot she could do.
“Well, that’s good.” She said. She thought. At least the phone didn’t hit the girl. As Aya introduced herself, Kioku couldn’t help but furrow her brow a bit in confusion. Super High School Level… Empath? Huh, alright. It wasn’t the weirdest talent she’d stumbled across in this school. What was an empath? Someone who could read emotions, right? Well, this girl must have been pretty good at that then. Everyone had some measure of empathy, she was sure of that, so how extreme was this girl’s? She couldn’t help but wonder.
But just asking something like that outright is rude.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Kaneshiro.” She said, sticking her hand out towards the girl for her to shake. “If you’ll permit me to ask, is that why you came over here? Because you knew I was upset?” She paused a moment before letting out a light chuckle. “Or was it just because you wanted to return my phone?”
Careless [Open RP]
Though Komaeda didn’t look it, he was cold, as always, and was thankful when the blankets were placed on top of him. He was naturally cold to the touch, probably due to his sickness, so any extra warmth was much appreciated. In his sleep, he grabbed the comforter and pulled it up to bury himself in it, until only his white hair was visible from under it.. Warm, it was so warm. He coddled further into the blankets, and hugged his pillow tightly against his body. After finally getting comfortable, the boy sighed slightly and let his body sink into the bed.
At Kioku’s touch, Komaeda’s comfort level only rose, and he didn’t feel so alone anymore. After she began to stroke his arm, he stirred no longer, feeling safe and secure. It was strangely soothing to have a presence with him as he slept. Was this how friendship felt like? He wouldn’t know. Not even his own mother had kept his company as he slept, no matter how many times he’d complained of nightmares. The idea of this was so foreign to him, but it was… nice. Reassuring. He wished it could always be like this, but that was a bit idealistic and he knew it. After all, Komaeda was always alone. He would always be alone. He lived alone, and he would die alone. Still, with Kioku’s companionship, this idea seemed far away, and for once he almost believed he didn’t have to be alone; that he could be happy.
At the sound of her voice, Komaeda slowly opened his eyes. At first, he had resisted, and tried to ignore her, but he awoke eventually, not wanting to burden her any longer. Before she even said anything, he knew she was going to leave him. Why else would she wake him up? His grey eyes focused, and he glanced up groggily to look at her. “Mm…” He stretched out his arms in an attempt to make himself feel more awake. “Good…” he glanced at the clock, “Uh, evening, I guess.” How lone had he been asleep? It couldn’t have been long. Lazily, Komaeda rose from the bed. His body felt so heavy, and his movements were slow. With every move he made, he felt a dull pain. Right, he’d fallen. He’d been so comfortable that he’d practically forgotten, but now the pain of his injuries was resurfacing slightly. Not that it bothered him really, he’d be much more severely injured before. This was nothing, it wasn’t a broken bone or a serious gash or anything. Only a couple bruises littered his body, which was child’s play compared to the physical injuries he’d gotten over the years. He always had been accident-prone.
Despite the pain, he forced himself to sit up properly and smile at Kioku. “Ah, are you leaving?” He kept his words casual, not letting any of his disappointment seep through. She’d seen him vulnerable once, twice if you counted when he was asleep, and he’d never allow her to see his weakness again.
Of course, it took him a minute to wake up – though whether that was on purpose or not wasn’t something Kioku could exactly tell. She’d grown up with three older brothers, so feigning ignorance to the chosen alarm wasn’t a foreign concept to the girl. “Good evening.” Kioku replied, a slight giggle evident in her voice. Ba-dum, ba-da-da-da-dum, da-dum. “Sorry I had to wake you up so soon.”
Well, no, Komaeda hadn’t been asleep too long – almost an hour or so. And Kioku would have been fine letting him sleep a little longer but time was, unfortunately, limited. Letting him sleep in wouldn’t have done her much good. She couldn’t help but feel a little bad about waking him up just so she could keep her promise and still leave with enough time to get back to her room and work. She couldn’t help but feel a little selfish. But he could go back to sleep if he wanted, right?
“I’m afraid so.” She said with a nod when Komaeda asked if she was leaving. “I’ve got some homework to finish up back in my room, so I’ve got to go do that. Plus, I need a light on to be able to see what I’m doing, and I figured you wouldn’t be able to sleep very easily with the big ol’ light on.” She said, gesturing upwards to the light in the dead center of the ceiling – standard dorm equipment, but bright and obnoxious as hell when one was asleep. At least, Kioku thought so.
“But, you know,” She said, softly clapping her hands in front of her. “You’ve got my number in case you need to call me again or anything. And I’m right upstairs,” She pointed up with one hand, not even bothering to tilt her hand one way or the other – if she was right, she was basically literally right above him. “Room 203, if you care to stop by.”
Maybe this was a little much, but she just didn’t want to leave him with nothing. Okay, it was fun, see ya when I see ya. That just seemed careless, considering the type of person Komaeda struck her as – which meant a little clumsy and a little lonely. It wasn’t like this would be the last time they saw each other but, at the same time, being attached at the hip probably wasn’t a good option either. After all, if nothing else, they had to have a few separate classes.
“So you go back to sleep, honey.” She said, flashing the boy an apologetic smile and giving his arm one last reassuring squeeze. “Let the medicine do its job, take it easy, and you should feel better in the morning or so. Alright?”
Did she know that for sure? No. She wasn’t a doctor. But that was what she’d experienced and – she hoped – it sounded pretty good.
What do you think I am, dumb or something? [OPEN]
Frustration. Anger. Dismay. The emotions rose up in her gut suddenly, and Aya had to bite her lip to resist the urge to scream. She sensed the feelings before she heard the yelling, and Aya was drawn to the sound. She was one to mind her own business, but it was hard to do so when she felt the secondhand exasperation twisting in her stomach. Her face was hot, her palms were sweating slightly, all the signs of being upset were there, and yet they were not her own. As she drew closer to the source of the noise, and underlying feeling bubbled up over the other emotions. Helplessness.
Quietly, Aya observed the girl from afar, trying to get a feel for the situation. Though she couldn’t hear the other end of the argument, Aya easily pieced together the circumstances, after all it was her specialty. This girl’s boss was being unreasonable, demanding her to go to ditch school and work instead. Despite the desperate, terrible emotions twisting in her stomach, Aya forced herself not to make any move to try to intervene. It wasn’t her place, and why should she help anyway? It was none of her business. If the girl couldn’t stand up to her boss, than it was her own damn fault, right?
All of a sudden, the emotions intensified as the girl screamed lightly and chucked her phone, which landed helplessly in a patch of grass a few yards away from her. Without thinking, the blonde sauntered over to the location of the phone and picked it up, reading the contact on the screen: Kohei Shimakage. She frowned at the name; he sounded like a little bitch. Casually, Aya held the phone up to her ear to see if he was still there. He was. The sound of his voice made the girl scowl, and her stomach turned. She hated this man, she loathed him already. She couldn’t help it, after feeling just how the other had felt: hopeless, frustrated, upset.
"Oi," she hissed into the speaker, her voice dark. "Leave this girl the fuck alone. She’s not coming in today, so stop being so unreasonable. If you call again, I swear I’ll break your skull open." And with that, Aya hung up the phone, not bothering to listen to his futile reply. She’d probably just lost this girl her job, but it’s not like that was her problem.
Aya strided over to the stranger and held out the phone to her. “He hung up,” she lied, staring at the girl coldly, and studying her face. Her eyes were a bit red; had this fucker made her cry? Maybe she’d been too easy on him.
Studio Ghibli. The Nikkatsu Corporation. Toei Company. Toho. She’d always been drawn to Kindai Eiga Kyokai. Million Film if she was desperate. She’d interacted with almost all of them before, so maybe there was a chance that one of them would be willing to hire her. And why not? She did decent work. Her one feature-length film sold out theaters for twice as long as the summer blockbusters upon release, never mind the music videos and various other dabblings in television and local stations. She rattled off the list to herself as she shifted her weight back and forth, from one foot to the other, in an attempt to calm herself down. It would be okay. Being let go from Kadokawa wouldn’t be the end of the world – it certainly wasn’t because of the work she did, after all. She would be fine. She’d be able to find work and continue making movies – by herself if not with a major studio. It wasn’t like she didn’t have the know-how, and the ability to manage a budget. She’d be fine.
Her internal mantra was cut short, however, when she heard another voice. Koku glanced up, green eyes meeting gold as this girl offered the filmmaker her phone back. Her left eye closed as her right shot back and forth, between the girl’s face, her own phone, and back again. Letting out a short hum, Kioku reached out and gingerly took her phone from the stranger. “Th-thanks.” Kioku flipper her phone over, checking for damage – self-inflicted, of course. She knew this girl more than likely hadn’t done anything. Once the cursory scan was done with, however, she felt her phone vibrate. Flipping it over once more she checked to see what the screen had for her. It was a text. From Shimakage.
She clicked her screen off and slipped the phone into her pocket. He could wait.
“Um…” She pressed the pads of her fingers together, a little unsure of what to say. “I’m sorry for shouting – if I startled you or anything.” Kioku bit the inside of her cheek as she briefly retreated back into her thoughts. “And-and I hope I didn’t startle you, or hit you with my phone. I’m sorry for that too, if I did. But, uh…” She took a deep breath. “But thank you for bringing my phone back.”
What else was there to say? It seemed rude to just leave. Besides, she didn’t know this girl at all. Perhaps an introduction was in order.
“I’m Kioku Higa.” She said, her tone a bit more sure now. “Super High School Level Filmmaker. Who might you be?”
What do you think I am, dumb or something? [OPEN]
“No!”
“….”
“I am telling you, I can’t help that!”
“…”
“For the last goddamn time, no! I have sent you at least thirty scripts and referred you to five different people – I’ve worked with you for the better part of a decade! Don’t you trust me?”
Being a Super High School Level anything was difficult in and of itself – when one had a job on top of that then the pressure was on. It really wouldn’t have surprised Kioku to learn she wasn’t the only one who was pulling out her hair and grinding her teeth at night sometimes. But, speaking personally, this week had really taken the cake: the studio she worked for had started demanding even more than she felt she was able to provide, even calling her in the middle of class sometimes asking her to hop a train and do some camera work. They had her schedule! They knew where she was! And it wasn’t like she could just up and leave whenever she wanted – she didn’t want to get in trouble.
“I can’t help you.” She hissed into the phone, turning on her heel for the umpteenth time to continue pacing behind the school. “I’ve got classes and my own work to do. You’re asking me to drop everything I’ve got going on just so I can come and shoot something – I’m not the only one who knows how to work a camera, Shimakage. Hell, I bet you could do it if you found a good tripod!”
“…”
“As if I don’t know that! But, in case this hasn’t occurred to you, being enrolled here kind of requires me to attend classes and get my homework done. I know it’s been ages since you were in high school—”
“…”
“You are sixty-five.”
“…”
“I don’t care! I can’t care! I’m doing everything I can to appease you and I still can’t get you off my fucking back! Can't you be reasonable about this?”
“…!!!”
“THEN FIND SOMEONE ELSE!”
With all the might one could muster from practically non-existent muscles Kioku hurled her phone as far as she could, managing far beyond her normal measure of luck to land it in a relatively soft patch of grass. Frustrated tears stinging the backs of her eyes she put her hands to her face, cupping them over her nose and mouth in an attempt to force her breathing to slow.
This was far from her most unreasonable request. She was just one employee – one small, underage employee who had yet to complete her schooling – and asking not to have to work 24/7 while in school was far from the most ridiculous thing an employee had requested from Kohei Shimakage. On one hand, that was no reason to fire someone. On the other hand, Kioku had just basically asked to be fired. Back on the first hand, this confrontation had been a long time coming. She’d spoken with the headmaster about it and he’d said she had no reason to worry; even if she was fired from Kadokawa Pictures, she was still a Super High School Level Filmmaker, so she would still be able to attend Hope’s Peak. Besides, he had no doubts she’d be able to quickly find work elsewhere. All the same, though, she could feel herself shake. Out of nervousness or rage, she wasn’t sure. The only thing she knew at the moment was that she had to find her phone.
She hadn’t actually hung up.
The next time there’s an awkward silence, try whispering, “Did you forget your line?”
#or when you can’t think of anything to say sigh dramatically and yell LINE
