coffeejunkie | 02nd beat; written

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02nd beat; written > voice

House 40 Rules
Version 2
[Some of you might remember a certain set of house rules going up prior to Yuri's disappearance. Otonashi isn't exactly second-in-command, but Hinata is emotionally out of commission, Naoi had already taken the burden of announcing her departure, and Noda is MIA.

Oh, and Yotsuba is too young to be making rules.. even though the potential for comedy is there.]

1. No loud music, shouting, or being loud after 11pm. There’s a little girl trying to sleep! It doesn’t matter if you stay up late, but keep the noise down.

2. Keep your eroge and other 18+ fare safely put away! If it’s left out in the living room, I’ll confiscate it. Yotsuba shouldn’t have to see that and neither should any visitors!

3. Everyone follows the rules. Even you, Noda..!

4. Please?

5. Try to keep your rooms clean.

6. Clean up after yourself in the kitchen.

7. Don’t leave your underwear in the bathroom… Keep that clean too.

8. The house is everyone’s responsibility, not just one person’s! Especially not just mine.

9. DON’T KILL EACH OTHER. I don’t care that it “didn’t matter” in the afterlife, it always matters!

10. Don’t make medieval traps! This includes BUT ISN'T LIMITED TO hammer traps, falling ceilings, collapsing floors, and spike pits! If you saw it in a JRPG dungeon, you can't make it in the house! (We can play an RPG instead.)

11. Don’t train in the living room! Keep it to your own room if you insist on doing it in the house…

12. Yotsuba: Make sure you go to school and do well. If you do, I’ll make sure to pick you up a gift at the end of each week. Oh, and find an adult that isn’t Noda if someone is bothering you!

13. Continue respecting Hayate.

14. If you want to set up an in-house visit, mark it either on the white board that Yuri set up or somewhere we can see it. It's better to let everyone know.

15. Don’t measure yourselves in the living room… Why is this even a problem..?! I won’t tell you that you can’t do it privately, because I know that’ll make you just want to do it more.
Noda, this means you… I've heard about your "competitions" and I'm telling now, I don't care..!

16. House meetings are still held on Sunday.

17. RESPECT EVERYONE'S PRIVACY. Knock before entering rooms unless it is an emergency! If I see you barging in, I'll... yell at you!

18. No throwing furniture, halberds, weapons, people, or… goldfish…

19. Why is there a goldfish named after me again..?

20. Okay! Please follow the rules. They aren’t even that hard to follow, you guys…

21. Don't discount me because I'm not Yuri! I don't think I should have to put on a bow and thigh-highs to enforce a rule around here...

-- voice;

[Well, there is a distinct lack of Yuri-specific rules. Like it or not, Yuri Nakamura is no longer in Luceti. He's in no rush to replace her, but the acceptance and healing process has to start somewhere. So, he might as well be the one to take initiative.]

I think that should do for now, unless I missed something... Any, uh... suggestions? [No punishment games though! Otonashi isn't much of a disciplinarian.]

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[Well, he might add something on a posterboard about this battledome and these mystical Holonashis. Noda can find out for himself!]

You said you train there often? Are you... fighting against the Malnosso? [Otonashi knows nothing of drafts and only minimal about missions. Fighting them seems logical.]

Oh... haha. I'm Otonashi.

... Ah. [That is all he can say, all the strength he can summon to affirm Noda's conclusion.]

She left all of us notes. You'd probably like the one she left me... She said I was, uh... [A dumbass, but he can't bring himself to say it. Otonashi may not feel comfortable enough to risk embracing Noda right now, but nothing stops him from trying to assist: even in this small way.]

Uh, stupid for forgetting to see her before she left.

[Huh, that question over the network, which the Malnosso also monitors?

But he get why Otonashi asked.]

Fairly often. I trained so I won't get rusty with my skills...and be ready for whenever I get drafted into their war.

[He never really answered his other question. Kouki's stance is more on "finding a way back home" for everyone else. If it ends up in them fighting the Malnosso, he'll do it if there's no better option.]

Name's Kouki Wakahisa. Just Kouki is fine.

[It's the Maid Hater...]

When Yuri made this list it sounded legitimate, from you it just looks sad.

[What's wrong with maids? You'll have to remind him, Haruhi. He'll have no idea what you mean.]

Ehh...? What's the difference?! I thought it sounded reasonable...

[ ...Other worlds are weird. BUT. She's curious enough to keep asking questions. Or prying. Whatever the case may be. ]

What do you mean by that? Non-Player Characters.

I don't know, I'd think the threat would go down considerably with that girl gone. [ yuri always seemed like the type to do that.. ] Unless that house is just full of unruly types.

This seems like a great list! Are your roommates really making death traps inside your house?

[He lets a small laugh out as he hears the other talk.]

You have not even seen her before she left? [Then again, he was lost in the woods when she had left, so he wasn't in the position to say much other than that.

He goes quiet after that, not sure what to say. He was actually scared to ask about the note she had left for him, regardless of how curious he was of what his own note said.]

Yuri named the goldfish after you. [It really wasn't him okay]

Though most of the rules don't apply to God [Because he isn't an idiot like the other two--more specifically Noda.] I'll keep everything in mind, Otonashi.

[Otonashi's sudden sharpness causes him to look up. Wide, teary lavender eyes focused on him, confused and... quite possibly looking for some kind of validation or second-hand forgiveness.]

[A small gasp of air is pushed out of him by the embrace, stunned into momentary silence, arms hanging uselessly at his sides.]

[Why is he..?]

[Having distinctly avoided human contact for days, being intentionally held and comforted... He didn't deserve this. Not this kind treatment. He'd been a liar, hadn't he..? But it couldn't be helped, trembling hands came up to grip at the back of Otonashi's jacket, burying his face in the redhead's shoulder as his own shoulders quaked with open sobs.]

I-I just wanted to be there, and I couldn't even do that..! [His voice came heavy with emotion. Loud and jagged.] I t-tried! B-but that year and the mission a-and..!

[Further words escaped him, hands balled up in Otonashi's coat, taking the small comfort that came with being close to someone who actually... understood him, and wanted to help.]

[Someone reasonable! Instant approval.]

You think so..? I've gotten mixed reviews... [He clears his throat.] Uhh... not that I've found yet, but one of them has been known to. The problem is that he makes them... then forgets about them.

Ah... no. No, she had gone off alone by the time I got here. [Asking him to be completely at ease would be asking too much, but he is willing to entertain that Noda might be docile. For now.

The note he received from Yuri was not terribly personal, so he figures he can offer the small kindness of sharing it (even if it is at his own expense). He retreats to his room, but returns moments later with a folded slip of paper. The handwriting is indeed Yuri's:

Someone told me you were here on my way out. Did you forget to say hi or something? Dumbass.]

Here. If you want yours... I'll ask Naoi for it.

That's exactly the problem! You're just some bum who doesn't like maids, Yuri's actually threatening enough to pull off eccentric rules like that!

... Eh—what are you talking about?! I have nothing against maids! A-and how am I a bum?!

[Confusion ahoy.]

She could rein some of them in, yeah... [Yuri was rather.. brash, though, whether anyone liked it or not. Yuri was Yuri.]

Almost everyone here has a.. lax philosophy on life and death. [You know, to put it mildly..]

[Indeed, but as far as he knows? He's in a safehouse using a journal. The idea of filters or monitoring hasn't come up yet.]

D... drafted. [He repeats this slowly, trying to process it.] Into their... war. Surely they can't be fighting an actual war... [And he nervously laughs himself into confirming the introduction.]

A-aha, ah, it's nice to meet you then, Kouki. It's good to know there are some people I can talk to.

[Other worlds are weird. Worlds are weird. PEOPLE are weird. We always end up back here... But he's happy to try to clear it up!]

Ah, have you ever played an RPG? That's where the term comes from. [How to explain this... The afterlife had an interesting way of naming its denizens.] W-well, uh... you and I are regular people in control of our actions, right? More or less, I hope...

[... really guys

THAT'S where we are, huh??]

Wh... why. Is that supposed to be a stab at my memory? [Because THAT'S NOT FUNNY. ~~Except in all the ways that it is, of course.~~ He can't ask any more of Naoi—really, if he is willing to abide by the main points, Otonashi can't complain.]

Try not to antagonize the others too much, okay? I know you think they're... well... [Fill in the blank.. anything "lesser" will do. Try to be at least a little nice to them, or else he might have to swat at your head or something, Naoi..! But nothing harmful, no. Never.]

It's not your fault. I know you would have done what you could... [Honestly, he had not expected Hinata to grab him back. No, he had expected the teary explanation and the sobs, but nothing more.

Of course this is not enough to bother him. If this is what it takes for Hinata to heal and move on, he'll do it. Every time, he will do it.] Okay? She wanted to go on that mission. You and I both know you can't stifle Yuri... And now she's back where she needs to be.

[Go ahead and snot all over his coat, Hinata. See if he cares.] And someday we'll be on the other side again.. right? To finish what we started?

Then tell me, are maids art?!

That seems like a pretty important thing to forget about. This is why we need lists; otherwise we'd be uncivilized! [ She chuckles. That sounds like something Rarity would say. ] Or just unorganized.

[Wait, what?!]

Excuse me..? Are maids... art? W-what does that even mean...?

[How did this guy don't know about the drafts? A very recent arrival, or someone haven't explain that part to him yet?]

Actual war, yep.

[Kouki sounds too casual about this. He have some war experience back home, so in this world, the differences are who their enemies are.]

And it's nice to meet you too, Otonashi. If you ever want to chat, you're free to call me over the journals. We're all stuck in the same situation, so most people know what it's like.

It means exactly what it sounds like!

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