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;

[precipitous]

[ ..............Wow. She only read about half of those, and she's still cringing. ]

I'm glad I don't live at your house.

voice;

[trainwrecking]

Eh?! These are tame and necessary..! There were a lot more and they were more, uh... [FULL OF DEATH but he won't say that, not exactly.] ... H-harsh.

voice;

[precipitous]

Keeping a kitchen clean is one thing, but making people keep their own rooms clean? And no traps? That's basically like saying 'no fun'.

[ In fact, she would sum up these rules just like that: no fun. ]

[Voice]

[de_bel_survivor]

[Yeaaaah, those rules...]

For rule number eleven, I'd suggest telling people to do their training outside of the house. Less indoor accidents, even if they're careful.

voice;

[trainwrecking]

I-I would, but the person this rule is aimed at would... uhh, probably just make a point to train in my room if I did that.

[Noda takes great pleasure in getting a one-up on Otonashi. Especially in stupid ways!]

voice;

[de_bel_survivor]

So it's someone who have a problem with you?

[And lives in the same house as you?]

It's one of those "talking it out is not an option" thing at hand, right?

Action

[frequent_flyer]

[New... new rules. And not in Yuri's handwriting either.]

[He stood in the middle of the kitchen, staring at the list, tired bags under his eyes. The glass of water he'd left his room to get was making his fingers cold, prompting him to take a small sip of it.]

[He'd been following Naoi's example and locking himself in his room for days on end, slinking out for food, the bathroom, and little else. In fact, staring at this list was the longest he'd been out of his bedroom in almost a week.]

action;

[trainwrecking]

[Of course he expected something like this from Hinata. So when Otonashi catches the other boy checking the new rule set that had replaced Yuri's, he tentatively, almost shyly, places a hand on his shoulder.]

Ahh... It's... been a while since you've come out.

[frequent_flyer]

[He flinches slightly at the hand on his shoulder, his head snapping to the side to see who was touching him. Upon seeing Otonashi standing there, his shoulders relax, turning back to the list, but not really... seeing it.]

...Yeah. [He shuffles his bare feet, rubbing them over each other to stave off the cold from the floor tiles seeping into them. He'd been lounging around in the same rumpled clothes for days: a pair of baggy plaid pajama pants and his red t-shirt.]

[...Otonashi might notice the bruises on his knuckles from punching the walls in frustration. Surely all of this was just a part of the mourning process for him.]

...New rules? [It wasn't clear if he was making an observation or asking for an explanation. Either way, he didn't look over at the other boy.]

[Voice]

[savedtheworld]

You're taking care of Yotsuba now?

voice;

[trainwrecking]

I'm going to do my best..! I don't think any other arrangements were made for her, and I... can't just leave her. [And the SSS does not have a lot of good-parent material in it otherwise.]

voice;

[savedtheworld]

[You can say that again]

That's very noble of you. I'm glad you're going to try. I wouldn't want Yotsuba to be alone around here - she's a real great kid after all. [Not to mention it would be too hectic for Avatar House to take her in with the effort they put into taking care of Ikki (as well as being on guard for the possibility of other future children popping up).] And I bet Yuri would be glad for that.

voice;

[entreats]

... You guys sure are fond of rules, aren't you?

[ She mostly remembers the ones Yuri put up last time, though. At least he seems pretty reasonable, judging from those rules. ]

voice;

[trainwrecking]

Not exactly..! But I think this house would, uhh... end up on fire, or be rigged with deadly traps everywhere, or... S-somehow everyone would end up trying to kill each other.

[He laughs nervously... this all sounds completely crazy. The chance of coming off as insane is always high.]

[entreats]

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.

action;

[hatesguns]

[Noda had been gone for about a month. Perhaps more, he didn't have a precise date of when he had left the house to do some training.

And then he was lost in the woods for who knew how long.

So he did not hear of Yuri leaving the place, Hinata being concerned with Yuri being gone, Naoi's journal post announcing about it... None at all. So when he finally made his way back to the house to see these new set of rules, he had to stop and stare at the rules for the longest time.]

action;

[trainwrecking]

[He stops mid-stride, just about ready to head to the kitchen for a drink. Quite possibly some coffee, which would of course do nothing for his thirst but everything for his taste buds, so... priorities.

And then he sees someone examining the new ruleset.]

N-Noda?! Wh- you came back?!

action;

[hatesguns]

[Noda has no clue why you are so surprised to see him back, but that didn't matter as he whirls around to point at the new set of rules with his halberd axe.]

What is the meaning of this?! Why are the rules rewritten in someone else's handwriting?! Did Yurippe consent to this?!

[Voice]

[godbent]

[It's the Maid Hater...]

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

voice;

[trainwrecking]

[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...

voice;

[godbent]

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!

[voice]

[fourthgenerationprincess]

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

voice;

[trainwrecking]

[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.

[written]

[nothisbrother]

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.

writing;

[trainwrecking]

[... 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.]