A mostly useless video post; backdated to the 20th

[trainwrecking]

[He spent three hours staring at his (now mostly functional) watch, rehearsing this a hundred times. Shouldn't it be fine?

Unfortunately, no, thanks to the TRIHARDO virus. The feed opens to a sterile white room and a bandaged up redhead, who seems to be doing his best to appear confident and normal despite the lingering rasp in his voice. haha! "normal"]

A-a-ano, ahh, hello, it's— No, that's stupid, I mean to say— er, no, I, um—

You don't have to do this if— a-ah, ehhh, umm... I... I-I... uhh.

...

N-nevermind. I forgot what I was going to ask. Ahah... [No! TRY EVEN HARDER. TRIHARDO.]

Wait! [Cue an emphatic gesture for "WAIT."] No, ahh, that wasn't true..! I would really appreciate it if someone could get something for me!

Or— uh, if you can sew, that would be great too.

Ahh, uhh, I'll do anything I can in return! Ahh, no, that was worse than when I practiced... Eh? Did I leave the video go—

Comments

video

[trainwrecking]

[Otonashi immediately looks down at his hand. His right hand. The one he uses for facepalming.

His left is bandaged and useless for this, but it looks like he'll be able to properly interact with Sig after all. And the world rejoiced.]

Uh, some clean clothes. Or some entertainment while I'm in here.

video

[robinsegg]

[Are you sure you don't need that hand?

He gives an acknowledging nod at the mentioning of clean clothes. But for the latter, though...]

Enter...tainment. [He tilts his head in deep(?) thought.]

Video

[all_wound_up]

Do you need help? Or healing? Let me bring you some food...!

video

[trainwrecking]

Y...eah. Entertainment.

[Sig, once again, how does your brain have enough power to keep you alive??]

You know, something you like to do..! Something that you find fun. Everyone knows something like that.

[trainwrecking]

Don't worry about it, you're doing me a really big favor..! Just go bigger if you aren't sure.

[Ah, yes, such is the life of most fictional young people!]

I will. There isn't much else to do, aha...

video

[robinsegg]

Ah. Okay. [He has one thing he likes to do! He gives another nod.]

Will get them. Don't worry.

[And then the feed ends. Sig, maybe you should have remembered to ask where he needed to go to deliver the things...]

[trainwrecking]

Th-that's not--

["That's not it," he wants to say. Except, of course, in all the ways that it is.]

--not all. I... I didn't want her to feel responsible for what happened. [The pause that follows feels like ice in his chest. It hurts because he knows Hizumi is right.

It hurts because he knows Hizumi had asked him to spend less time worrying about others, and more time worrying about himself.

It hurts because he wonders if Hizumi envies him for that unintentional death--an awful, painful death he can't publicly admit to, but a death nonetheless--something that seems to elude the other teenager.

It hurts because Hizumi can predict and intercept him at every turn, know what he's thinking before it even leaves his lips, leading Otonashi to wonder just how many similarities they share.

It hurts.]

... It was the least I could do.

Video

[trainwrecking]

Wai--!

[Too late. He wanted to specify that he meant "you" in the general sense, not specifically to bring something that Sig finds entertaining.

Because there seems to be only one (1) possibility.

Sig, if you bring him a box of bugs, he's going to have to bash his head into the wall. Repeatedly. Until he passes out.]

not here

[robinsegg]

[Don't sorry, while he did collect a box full of bugs to bring, he wasn't sure where he was supposed to head meet you, so instead he left the box at Otonashi's apartment door. What a thoughtful little kid!]

Video

[trainwrecking]

I-I've gotten a lot of help already, now they're just keeping an eye on me..!

[He turns to cough, but soon recovers and waves to the camera as if to reaffirm "it's okay! Don't worry!" But he has to concede, nobody has offered him food that isn't hospital-grade.

It sounds pretty much like the greatest thing ever right now.]

Oh, uh, do you cook, Nano?

1/? just for the icons, also not here

[trainwrecking]

[Sig.]

2/?

[trainwrecking]

[Sig...]

???fngfhf

[trainwrecking]

[SIG...]

[trainwrecking]

[DAMNIT, SIG!!!]

[trainwrecking]

[You're an idiot!!]

[a_gentle_boy]

I'll be there as soon as I can.

Oh - my name is Lucas, by the way. It's nice to meet you.

Video

[all_wound_up]

[Worrying is one of Nano's best skills, though!]

Yes! Would you like me to make something for you? Maybe some soup?

[eyewillprotect]

Still...

[She looks down for a moment before it suddenly occurs to her. Maybe it's just because she was thinking of birthdays, but...]

You're a Virgo too, aren't you? Then-- [A small pause. Her lungs burned to cough, although she does manage to turn it into rather a dainty little affair rather than a rough, haggard one.]

--think of it as a birthday gift. Would that be alright?

[bondsofsuffering]

[Well that sounds fine and dandy... In theory.]

"That's not all". But it's still part of it, right? Because it's fine if you die.

[You can hear the smile in his voice as he speaks. But somehow, it isn't very cheerful.

In fact, it sounds rather accusatory.]

Isn't that rather hypocritical of you?

[Action] - After Sig leaves Otonashi a "present"

[frequent_flyer]

[On his way home from work, Hinata notices a box that appears to be a present sitting outside Otonashi's apartment door. He looks around, wondering if the gift-giver is still about. Not seeing anyone, he picks up the box, figuring he should go deliver the gift just in case it's perishable!]

[Once he convinces the hospital staff that he's not going to be a nuisance this time, he goes up to the room Otonashi is staying in, knocking gently on the door.]

Otonashi-kun..?

[trainwrecking]

[A nod, and then:]

Ah, you too! [Oh, too much energy. He coughs, but thankfully it isn't too harshly or too close to the feed.]

S-sorry I'm not meeting you under better circumstances... I'm Otonashi.

[trainwrecking]

[They're two of a kind then!]

Ahh... y-you would do that? [It's easy to hear the reservation in his voice, but he dares to hope.]

I would reimburse the ingredients...

I'm pretty sorry about this one but also not at all, suffer with me ;w;

[trainwrecking]

I never--!

[The burning in his chest forces him to rein it in. He finds that he cannot completely suppress the emotion in his voice, but he can force a focus.

While he wasn't sure what he expected from Hizumi initially, he can't say that he didn't expect this.

Perhaps it's deserved.]

I-I never said it was fine if I died. I wouldn't--I would never--I didn't want to die like that..! I would n-never... never want to die without at least making a difference...

But if you knew you had reached the end... w-wouldn't you want to save someone else if you thought you could? E-even if you could only heal their pain a little?

[trainwrecking]

Huh? Yeah, I'm...

[He stops mid-sentence, his jaw unceremoniously hanging open. Virgo. They were both Virgoes.]

T-today is the twentieth... Aoi, I... isn't that your birthday?

[Nevermind that his had most likely passed. He felt no connection with it and no sense of loss, only shame.]

[trainwrecking]

[The hospital staff may or may not be keeping very careful watch of you, Hinata.

Evenings were typically when someone checked in with him, and after today's visitors, the abrupt spikes in his heart rate, and overuse of his voice, he fully expected it to be hospital staff.

To say he's surprised to hear Hinata would be an understatement.]

W-what is it? [He folds the tattered paperback he had been staring at--not really reading--over his chest.] You can come in...