006 - [ text ] All the boys and girls form a circle

[keptwaiting]

hello, everyone! ＼（＾▽＾）／

it's february and i'm sure you all realize what that means! valentine's day is in less than a week!

so i was wondering... is there anybody in particularly you would love to get chocolate from or give chocolate to?

what are you looking for in love? what does this day mean to you? was there somebody in your life before to make Special Memories with?

if you want to go anonymous, that's okay, i guess, but it's most fun to discuss with friends openly, right?

let's warm up for the day of love by discussing it, alright? the more details, the more fun it is!

((ooc: this is a discussion post and as such, threadjack all you like. all comments will be treated as general discussion comments and not something directly sent to yamashita, unless specified otherwise!))

Comments

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[waifu]

What do you mean by "open"?

[DON'T MAKE HIM EXPLAIN WHY CERTAIN THINGS ARE PERVERTED...or why certain things have potential to be perverted.]

text

[keptwaiting]

the opposite of closed, obviously!

so many people don't ever talk about who they like or anything further related to that... and that's kind of boring.

[ The hypocrisy... it's burning... ]

there are so many things to be said and shared after all!

text

[waifu]

[1/2] You talk about it too much.

[Never about any specific person, which begs the question: who is Yamashita targeting here in the Afterlife? Not that Shouma's a stickler for gossip; the less he knows, the better, but Yamashita brought it up to begin with — wants to talk about it.]

[2/2] Did you pick a Valentine already?

text

[keptwaiting]

[ Yamashita's usual texting speed is quite fast, but this time the reply takes a bit. What is he supposed to say now? Why does he never think these things through? ]

kind of... nohting's set in stone yet

[ Ignore the nervousness typo. ]

how about you?

I LAUGHED SO HARD AT YOUR EDIT

[waifu]

[Yamashita can take his time, Shouma has nothing better to do than wait for his phone to vibrate between messages.]

You should only pick one Valentine. [Kamba and Yamashita are kinda similar...in his mind.] I'm not involved in it.

[keptwaiting]

i wasn't planning on picking more than one!! that there are a lot of cute people doesn't mean i want to date all of them at the same time, what do you take me for? ~(>_<~)

[ There's a pause before the next message gets send as an afterthought. ]

still not over that one chick from back home?

[ Only a casual bro question. Yeah. ]

[waifu]

[Does he really want Shouma to answer that? While he tries to think of a creative way to call him a pervert, he receives another message, one he...

Totally wasn't expecting at all. He's so surprised, he forgets to glare. And he also forgets to answer that message — either message at all. He'll just, set his phone aside for now and absolutely not start moping.]

[keptwaiting]

[ Luckily (??) Yamashita is a persistent friend. A few minutes are all patience he has for waiting here. And then, in much shorter distances other messages are sent. ]

[1] are you still there?

[2] did you fall asleep on your phone or something?

[3] is it really that bad?`

[4] ,,, hey, reply

[waifu]

[Shouma isn't very good at moping...or maybe he is good at moping? Because he hasn't really moved from his bed. He's tilted to the side with his head thunked against the wall, unmoving when that initial buzztext is received.

Another one, and he's still playing deaf. The third earns a glance, and the last has him closing his eyes. He's been doing well to avoid the subject; Himari, Kamba, Ringo. None of them would recognize him now, save for the one who really wouldn't want to. Maybe.

A few belated moments later, he decides to stop being selfish and actually have a looksee at his messages. This process had him straightening his back, then slumping over into the opposite direction, lying on his side and reading his messages sideways.

...Which isn't the same thing as responding. Which is something he's doing — being unresponsive.]

[keptwaiting]

[ Grah, by now Yamashita is just running up and down in his room while typing. Alright, alright, he knew the topic was sensitive but that sensitive? Come on, it's just a girl! She can't be that important! Right??
Really, maybe he had a better grasp on what was going on with Shouma here if only he knew any of what had been going on back home. ]

you know, the food in the cafeteria is supposedly really good today

[ He doesn't know what it is, he just wants to change the topic. ]

little takakuraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa


are you even still there

did you throw your phone out of the window or what

[ And finally: ]

i'm coming up there if you don't respond

[waifu]

[Every girl he's ever encountered in his life is a touchy subject!! Not literally, but. Maybe 1% literally. In any case, it doesn't take much.

But at least he's not yelling at Yamashita! He's reverted to his natural state.It's apparent that Yamashita won't leave him alone until he says something, but it isn't until he's outright threatened (I'm coming up there — that's a huge threat, especially since the door isn't locked.) that he takes on the tedious task of responding.]

I'm trying to sleep, Yamashita.

[In the middle of the day.]

[keptwaiting]

[ Even Yamashita can pick up on the fact that everything is off about that claim. This was a suspicious time to decide to sleep and he wasn't just referring to the time of day alone. ]

i don't believe you

[ He's probably more hurt by this reply than he was by the entire not replying thing before. It's like every single time he asks something, Shouma just avoids the topic and he probably shouldn't mind because he lies to his friend a lot as well, but.... it's still a bad feeling. ]

[waifu]

[There's a time and a place, and the time and place for discussing personal discrepancies is never and nowhere. His eyebrows furrow, not in annoyance, but...confusion, confusion and something else. i don't believe you — it lacks any goofiness, that flounce Yamashita has, even when he's trying to be serious.

It's almost disconcerting. Time passes, but he responds.]

It doesn't have anything to do with you.

[So don't worry about it.]

[keptwaiting]

[ Those are dreaded words to read. 'It doesn't have anything to do with you'. Words to put miles of distance between two people. ]

it does

[ For a lot of reasons, half of which he won't say. Yamashita is not made for this kind of conversation. He doesn't do well at being serious, it's not his style. Even when he feels serious feelings, he has a hard time putting them into words that make any kind of sense - so usually he doesn't try. It's more fun to be out-going and humorous anyway. People also like you better.
Shouma probably doesn't. ]

you keep acting like nothing has anything to do with me, but that's not true
we're from the same world, right?
we're friends, right?

so why doesn't it? that's not how that's supposed to go

[ Opening up to your friends is the first step towards the movie's happy end, don't you know? ]

[waifu]

[Maybe he is talking to goofy old Yamashita, but it still feels bad when his friend states the obvious; that Shouma's still building walls and acting like a terrible friend. One day, he very well might end up spilling the beans, but for now...he kind of likes the fact that no one really knows him. Not even Yamashita, past a certain (obvious) point.

For a split second, he considers telling Yamashita he shouldn't bother anymore — bother with their friendship, bother talking to him...even if it was he who'd responded to this.]

It's in the past so it isn't a big deal anymore.

[Detached, short and simple messages is probably not the best way to get someone off your back, but this is further proof of how not very good Shouma is at this. That's also pretty hypocritical — if it's not a big deal, he ought to be able to talk about it now.

Oh well.]

[keptwaiting]

[ It may be good that they are not face to face at this point. It's like every time they have a conflict. For the moment being Yamashita is angry and hurt and if they were talking through any other medium than text it would be quite apparent. Tomorrow things would be different again. It wasn't that he could just forget all the worrisome things Shouma said, but a morning mood reset did wonders sometimes. ]

it doesn't look like no big deal when you keep reacting like this, honestly

but fine, have it your way

i'll just be. here. i guess. if you sometime in your eternity of afterlife feel like talking, you know

[waifu]

[The difference a day makes.]

[1/2]: This is the first time you've brought it up!

[Lbr...Shouma, you're always acting like depression incarnate. Speaking of, that lattermost statement earns an unheard sigh.]

[2/2]: We're talking now.

[Not about the subject or anything progressive, but it's true! He's not ignoring him anymore, which is a step...somewhere.]

[keptwaiting]

it's not like you ever told me anything else either

[ This may be the first time bringing up Ringo but it feels like direct deja vu from when Shouma absolutely refused to tell him about his death - by completely ignoring all his questions. It's only different because this is about a direct rival, which only adds to Yamashita being extra sulky. ]

there's a difference between talking and talking

[ Because clearly, nothing Yamashita ever says are just empty words and he always speaks with deep meaning behind his phrases. ]

[waifu]

What good will it do? Talking about it won't change anything.

[Talking about things tended to make them worse, in his experience, probably because he's never properly done it. Especially in regards to Kamba — he could be incredibly difficult at times, and harbored plenty of his own secrets anyway.]

You have things you want to keep to yourself, don't you?

[DEEP MEANING.]

[keptwaiting]

[ Ack, that's a mean question, even if Shouma may only have meant it as a rhetorical one. Yamashita's hands shakily hesitate over the buttons of his phone and then they only type faster. ]

is it really always want?
there are things you keep to yourself because you have to, but it's nothing you really want bottled up inside of you forever and forever and forever, right?

[waifu]

[He was expecting Yamashita to disagree, since they are on opposite sides of the fence about this. He's been prying long enough (for two minutes, not including Shouma's little angst!fit) for him to figure out that his friend isn't gonna go down quietly. The best possible outcome is that they see from eachother's point of view and maybe Shouma will feel better about discussing this baloney in the future.]

Some people deserve that kind of a burden.

[As per Takakura ritual, he's not making this let's-agree-to-disagree outcome very easy.]

[keptwaiting]

[ Yamashita quickly starts typing that Shouma is not the kind of person who deserves any of that, but then he actually has the sense to backspace and think again, this time considerably longer. All that comes out of it is one single word though. ]

why?

[ There is nothing else he has to say to this. Everything he could add, every bit of opinion just sounds so small and useless compared to whatever deep thoughts Shouma may be having. 'Why?' is probably the most truthful question he could ask - he genuinely can not understand why Shouma thinks like this, why anybody could think like this. ]

[waifu]

[Going into detail would be the same as revealing his cards, even tough ebbing along the lines of spilling vs not is a total dickmove. Shouma would feel more comfortable confiding in an anonymous source if he ever had to — someone unattached, who wouldn't necessarily feel affected by it.

..By all means, Yamahshita really shouldn't feel anything about his convoluted situation, but the threat is there.]

Because life isn't fair.

[It's downright cruel.]

this thread kills me and the keywords of my icon don't make it better

[keptwaiting]

maybe it is

it's not anybody's fault that is is

if the only reason someone deserves to bear a burden is because they are in the wrong place of an unfair life, then that person doesn't have to bear that burden at all

if life isn't fair, then that kind of punishment isn't rightful either

[ It is like that time all of them had to clean up the street even though they weren't the ones who tossed everything around. It wasn't them. The people who did bad things were elsewhere and others had to suffer from it.

That is what 'unfair' means.
That is why anything an unfair fate decides is no rule to live by. The only consequence one should endure is that of ones own actions. ]

YOUR KEYWORDS COMPLETELY KNOCKED ME OUT

[waifu]

Somebody has to, right? It has to end somewhere. Making up excuses like that is selfish.

[Yamashita presents good arguments, but imagine arguing with a wall. That's exactly what's happening, and hell is prone to freeze over before Shouma decides to stop and appreciate his words. It's easier to settle into the default and prattle on about his own thoughts, none of which being very healthy.]

Weren't you asking about something completely different?

[Initially; this is him trying to change the subject.]