02nd beat; written > voice

[coffeejunkie]

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.]

Comments

voice;

[trainwrecking]

[Yep, better hide the kids.]

That's... true, usually. It also works with audio—the sound of waterfalls or water flow.

video;

[trainwrecking]

Ah, so if I see any other ponies, I'll have to say hello..! [Ponies should be easy to spot in a crowd!] It'd be cool to watch someone really fly with these wings.

Oh, sorry—I'm... Otonashi. [He hesitates, as always, very much wanting to give a proper first name and not his surname alone. And like always, he draws a blank.]

[frequent_flyer]

[He heard Otonashi's words, but he was far past the point of being able to respond to them. So for now, he quietly sobbed, thoroughly soaking the shoulder of Otonashi's jacket. He knew the redhead was right, there wasn't anything he could have done differently. If he'd tried to stop Yuri from going, she'd just kick him in the face and do it anyway.]

[A few minutes would pass before the heaving if his chest would start to settle, jagged sobs softening into gentle whimpers before fizzling out completely. Slowly, he pulled himself away from the much needed embrace, standing properly. His eyes were predictably red and puffy, his face wet with tears and nose drippings.]

[He wiped his nose on the back of his hand, swallowing audibly and trying to compose himself. As a distraction, he turned to the stove, putting the kettle on to boil.]

Do you think... we'll all go back to the afterlife? Or is this just... the place we go before we're reborn..? [He'd been doing a lot of thinking on the subject, which wasn't exactly helpful, but wasn't it only natural for humans to wonder what lay beyond?]

[trainwrecking]

[Go right ahead and cry. Otonashi might not always seem patient—especially not with borderline insane antics—but when it comes to a person's well-being, he's nothing but a saint.]

Hinata... We'll go back. We have to, don't we? If the way to be reborn is to accept our fates, then... I know you haven't. Yuri hasn't! I... [He hesitates. What did he even have to accept? Could he ever leave if he never remembered? It scares him; as much as he feels like he should remember, none of his memories reappear to him. Is it so bad that he shouldn't remember? Would things change if he did? Though Otonashi hesitates, he says nothing of his fears.

Still, he can't take back that long pause.]

I'm... sure we'll be back. If I... went back before, I'll go again.

voice;

[precipitous]

See? We’ll make a proper prankster out of you yet. Switch the place of salt and sugar - that’s a good one, too.

voice;

[godbent]

Oh yeah, like who?

video;

[fourthgenerationprincess]

Pleased to meet you, Otonashi! My name is Twilight Sparkle. We all live in the same house in town. You can come visit us whenever you like!

And you've never seen Rainbow Dash fly, huh? Well, I'm a poor substitute, but...

[ She so happens to be outside, in Luceti's square. She sets her journal down on a nearby ledge or platform, opens her wings and flies a couple of loops around the fountain. Then she lands and picks up the journal again. ]

[entreats]

Even with that, my situation here is much better than anything I've ever experienced back home. [ It's a little more casually again, even though it's much more loaded than said casualness implies. ]

Besides.. even if the Malnosso just downright suck, there are plenty of decent people around here.

voice;

[trainwrecking]

Ahh, I don't know about a proper prankster... It's been a long time since I've tried anything like that. [At least, something that's not part of a planned operation.]

voice;

[trainwrecking]

Like Layton. And Wakahisa sent me an information packet! Naoi isn't exactly as authoritative as he... tells people he is... but he's been here for a while too!

voice;

[godbent]

Layton's that new teacher at the school, right? With the top hat? Six months, tops. He's not been here even a year, I can tell you that. Kouki's been here... [She taps a foot as she considers it] maybe a little more than two. Two an hour, maybe. Less than three. I'll give him a pass, but if it was an "information packet" he probably just sent you Raine's guide, right? Are you stupid?

And Naoi doesn't count because he's evil, so you've got nothing!

Next time they should aim for 7 tags

[hatesguns]

[Otonashi you gotta try harder than that. Noda gives a blank look back at you as a reaction.]

And? I accept that I'm a moron, and if I'm being useful to Yurippe in any way, I could care less.

[Which makes him feel sad again, but he wasn't going to mull over it so much.]

THEY CAN TRY

[trainwrecking]

You— ... How can you accept being told you're an idiot so easily?! [Noda, ever comfortable with his stupidity.] B-besides, I didn't say that... exactly.

And... [He trails off, trying to carefully formulate his words in the interest of not being impaled on a halberd.]

1/2

[trainwrecking]

Ahh, really? Which one? [Because how often would he get to meet talking ponies, really?]

I'd invite you over, but our house is that loud one...

video;

[trainwrecking]

[And then she sets her journal up to record her flight, effectively leaving him awestruck.

He's watching a flying pony. And there are more of them. Oh, and yes, this is real life. You can tell him it's not incredible all you want, Twilight, but he won't believe it.]

You... call that a poor substitute?

voice;

[trainwrecking]

Eh? What's wrong with that guide?! And you can ease up on the insults anytime...

[And then she tells him about Naoi's "evil." Oh no. No. Naoi might not be all sunshine and rainbows, he might not even be a very nice person on a good day, but evil?]

You're wrong. You think that you know everything about him? He's not just some "evil person" with a God complex! Maybe you do know more about this confusing world than me—but you're wrong about Naoi. If you're going to lecture me about Luceti, then just do it! [He's passionate about his friends okay, they're basically all misunderstood and tragic and some are complete social rejects.]

voice;

[godbent]

[Snap- She slams her hands on the table, and this time she isn't just being casually annoyed, she's mad] He tried to kill me, you stupid jackass! He tried to kill me, destroyed the front room of my HQ - while trying to kill a seven year old, I might add - and you're telling me I need to understand him?! It's one thing to hear it from Yuri, but at least she forced him to write an apology letter. What's the matter with you?!

1/2

[trainwrecking]

I'm not saying he's never done anything wrong! I've watched him hypnotize people, I've heard all the complaints! I know he's capable of doing awful things! He's wrong, okay?! He's wrong for doing it! He's wrong for trying to hurt you or anyone else!

[Call him stupid, but he has an impossible amount of passion for people...]

But he's not just... evil!

how is it that you always have like the perfect icon? witchcraft!

[trainwrecking]

I'm sorry for anything he did to you, Haruhi... And I'll do everything I can to make sure he won't do it again.

But saying he's evil is saying he can't be better, or he's just completely bad... or inhuman...

voice;

[precipitous]

Well then, this is the best time to jumpstart your career, don't you think?

[frequent_flyer]

[At the mention of not accepting their own fates, Hinata winced, shuffling from one foot to the next uncomfortably.] I don't... know if I can even... [He forced a dry laugh, trying to bounce back from his breakdown as gracefully as possible.] H-hah... Nevermind..! It's not... important.

[What?]

[The final word left his mouth dry, busying himself with the neglected glass of water he'd left on the counter, avoiding Otonashi's eyes as he gulped some of it down.]

How can you know if you went back or not? [Without an authority figure to tell him to stuff it, he remained skeptical of Otonashi having been in Luceti before. How could that even be possible?] You don't remember it, and the only people that say you've been here are... [Lavender eyes flick briefly to Naoi's bedroom door on the other side of the house.] ...not really trustworthy.

video;

[fourthgenerationprincess]

[ Twilight's purple fur turns a bright shade of pink at her cheeks. ] Thank you. But Rainbow Dash is the fastest flyer in Equestria. I've only had my wings for a few days.

We live in house 45 if you want to visit us and Pinkie.

[trainwrecking]

... What isn't? [No. Not getting out that easily, Hinata. Otonashi might not be an expert psychologist nor someone particularly adept at conversing with other human beings, but he has seen these signs before. Last time, it was anything but "not important."

But with the inevitable tension rearing its head again, he turns away.]

Other people seem to know me too. Not in a good way! Naoi seems to be the only one that's trusting me in all of this. [It stings a little. Otonashi wants to help, but he's having a particularly hard time helping people like Noda and Hinata when they'll only listen to it from Yuri. Anyone who knew Yuri as an authority figure believes in her far more than him, and the opposition is an added strain (though not one he is unwilling to take). By comparison, Naoi has been easy to check up on, but of course Naoi has a strong bias in Otonashi's favor.]

I do try!

[godbent]

[She stopped listening to that mid way through the first rant. An apologist who is trying to appeal to her moral sensibilities after dismissing death threads, are kidding her? In fact, at about the point that he gets to the "he's wrong, okay" she just rolls her eyes and slams the book shut, letting the rest of that fall on deaf ears. She replied to this guy on a whim - because she knew some other version of him before - but that is not what she wanted to hear.

He can, of course, try to call her again or something or wonder why the line is silent, but she's off to do something else to calm down]

[hatesguns]

At least I would not hide behind pathetic excuses of not being an idiot when it's the truth.

[And he looks so proud at that.]