ayabe

[soba]

meme here, probably

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[kazokun]

Toi?

[ There's a knock at Toi's door before the handle jiggles to check whether it's locked. Ayabe's going to give Toi the benefit of the doubt that he was lying down like a good patient all this time and only got up to answer the door. ]

[soba]

[ ayabe is a good boy for giving toi something he does not deserve.

but toi will open the door, mostly since the voice is one he recognizes as someone who does not annoy him, so it's. alright. ]

Mm?

[kazokun]

[ Would he have just let other people stand awkwardly by the door as he paces around an obviously not empty room ]

You're up... I wanted to check how you're doing. You lost a lot of blood?

[ It was hard to tell, with everybody crowded around the door and also Ayabe not really wanting to see. ]

[soba]

[ yes. ]

... no, it wasn't that bad. Luna caught me pretty quickly.

[ toi says, when he was trying to run away, ]

[kazokun]

[ Ayabe nods, because he sure saw Toi trying to run for it while there was literally a wall of bodies blocking the way. ]

That's a relief... Did she put you on room arrest or anything?

[ She guarded Asch all night when his arm was being treated, but he can't tell how bad Toi's wound is. ]

[soba]

No.

[ well, there is the understanding that he technically shouldn't be running around, but he is not taking that as he is not allowed to leave the room at all. ]

I can still walk.

[kazokun]

How much does it hurt?

[ Because it must hurt. Does Toi need weed. ]

[soba]

... I can still walk...

[ he just

repeats himself. while ignoring the actual question. ]

[kazokun]

What if I poked you in the stomach?

[ Luna would come bursting through the door to kill him if he did that, probably. ]

[soba]

I'll poke you back.

[ luna would definitely murder him ]

[kazokun]

[ Ayabe reaches out to poke Toi in the stomach to see if he would pull back and give himself away that it hurts, but he's not Minato and so he won't actually poke Toi in the stomach if Toi doesn't move, he just stops short because he's a coward. ]

[soba]

You're not going to do it?

[ there's a pause, and he very gently places the tips of his fingers on his abdomen, and then upwards. ]

It's... fine.

[kazokun]

I'm not going to hurt you to satisfy my own curiosity.

[ He lets his hand drop when Toi does what Ayabe didn't, and he'll have to be satisfied with that much. ]

...I'm not smart, or creative, or any of the things needed here to survive. All I can do is my old job, and that's to look after people. So that's what I'm doing.

[soba]

... I think that's pretty important, too.

You need to be able to connect to others, in a place like this.

[kazokun]

It's different from that. I'm no good at that either.

[ Looking after people is one thing, taking care of them is something else, and being cared for in return are all completely different matters. ]

I understand working together, but being friends in a situation like this, won't it just bias us? Like nobody suspecting Nikki.

[ People would defend their friends no matter what, whether or not they're guilty, whether they know they're guilty.

[soba]

Apparently some people can't help becoming friends with each other.

[ it's said... not mockingly, but with the implication that he doesn't quite believe it. ]

When things get hard, sometimes you band together, even if it might hurt more, I guess.

[kazokun]

[ Ayabe's eyebrows raise a little at that, because it's not something he can ever see in himself, but he knows somebody who is just like that, who would trip over herself to make friends with absolutely everybody she could, to the point of desperation, even with an enemy such as himself.

If she were here... she probably would have fallen down the stairs and snapped her neck or fallen into the lake and got swallowed by the kraken already, tbh. ]

I guess. It takes both sides to be friends, though. [ And he's stubborn about it, because he doesn't want it to hurt more than it inevitably will. ]

How have you been doing with that, by the way? Talking to people.

[soba]

A lot better today. For some reason.

[ the reason is that people keep checking on him, which is extremely baffling to toi, and it's evident in his expression that this is

goddamn weird

why are people being nice ]

[kazokun]

Because you can't walk away from people?

[ That's how friendship gets you. People flock to provide comfort and you're in too much pain to run away. ]

[soba]

I can walk away. They're just more likely to follow me.

[ HE'D BE. WALKING A LOT MORE SLOWLY. ]

[kazokun]

That's the same thing.

[ He almost smiles a little, but chews at his bottom lip instead of doing so. ]

People naturally worry, and come together when somebody is hurt. We saw that with Asch... [ Friday morning Asch, yesterday Asch ] The circumstances are terrible, but it's still nice to see.

[soba]

[ nice...

is it nice? he has to think about it. ]

It feels a little mean.

[kazokun]

What part?

[ The situation as a whole sucks, but when do you ever see people come together for the sake of others. He takes what he can. ]

[soba]

[ he's trying to figure out how to phrase it, how seeing everyone help each other and stand together is nice, but it still leaves a queasy feeling in his stomach that just gets worse. ]

... is there really no one you think might be a friend here?

[kazokun]

[ He's quiet. It might just boil down to his definition of friendship, but he can't pull a name out of the top of his head for Toi, not without second guessing himself. ]

There are... people I want to look after. I can see they care about me, to an extent, and I don't want to see them hurt, and I'm not too annoyed being with them. But I don't know if that makes us friends.

[ He's out there making bentos and eating lunch with Mafuyu on the school roof, just the two of them, but turns around and says they're not friends, so idk what to say. Mister I've-never-had-a-friend-in-my-life's standards are too high. ]