godbent | 9th: The Consideration of Haruhi Suzumiya

[Voice]

...Huh, so I guess that's over now. I actually liked that one, being super was really cool! [Sigh] Well, whatever.

Brigade, for those who missed the memo, we collected three new members of late. They were introduced before, but to clarify, the cartoony rabbit thing is Oswald and that other guy is Ayumu, and apparently he's a zombie. We also got Ellis, but I've not seen hide or hair of him- anyone who knows anything about him should report to me ASAP.

[...] Oh, right, and if you didn't notice yet, Minako's gone. [She didn't know for sure when Minato or whoever left her the gift, but it's hard not to miss now

...And then there's Usagi, but she's gone, apparently. That still feels like a kick to the gut, so she's not going to address that. Well, she has things to do today, but let's throw up some filters first:]

[Filtered to Pascal // 85% Unhackable]

Hey, we talked before, right? You still here?

[Filtered to Rena // 85% Unhackable]

[She hasn't really spoke with her since Valentines, or well... shortly there after. She frowns and then exhales sharply before]

Hey, let's talk.

[...Pause, and then back to public again:]

[Public voice]

Hey, anyone else got worthwhile DVDs?! I've got pretty much the complete collection of Disney and Pixar stuff, but nothing else. Anyone who's got anything of value, ring me and we can arrange a trade! [...] It's so lame they don't just have them in the shops, really. Actually- hey, Catherine! If you're stalking this, let's talk about you giving me some more movies.

[That would give her more to do, anyway. Either way, it's Sunday]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Okay. I'll see you later then, Haru-chan.

[...Of course, by then, she'll be feeling a little awkward considering Keiichi's slightly upsetting return, but nevermind that.]

[As will Haruhi, because you know... she talked to him too. But her reaction was ragequitting on him. She will be waiting at the swing though.]

[So she sees when she arrives! But instead of announcing her arrival, Rena just decides to perch herself right up next to Haruhi. The weather's nice. It's not a bad time to enjoy it.]

[...Oh. Haruhi glances over, but doesn't give a greeting, mostly because Rena didn't. Instead, she just starts to rock the swing a little]

[Rena just rolls with it, kicking the swing off with the balls of her feet every time they graze against the ground.

It's a nice feeling, barring the fragile sort of peace that is settling down in the air. Like the sort of thing she would do a home. Of course, there's no going back to that place, but...

Nevermind that.]

[She'll just... wait on Rena to start talking for now. She just rocks, because she's not really sure where to start right now. Maybe she'll eventually give in and start to hum, but]

[She's perfectly content to sit in silence for now. But eventually-]

It's been kind of hectic, hasn't it?

...Yeah, I guess that's one way to put it.

[And then she stops putting momentum into the swinging. It'll still rock a while of course, but]

[There's a noncommittal noise from her, and she falls silent again until the swing comes to a stop.]

What should we talk about, Haru-chan?

...I dunno. [Keiichi comes to mind, but with this bigass delay and him coming back weird, it's hard to just...]

[:|

Well fine, she'll break the ice-]

How are you, Haru-chan?

I'm... happy. [Somehow, she feels guilty to say that. She looks over at the side] Yeah, I'm happy.

Good!

[And she sounds genuinely delighted! ...But she leans forward a little, peering over in an attempt to get a better look at Haruhi's face.]

Is that it, though? Is it?

-What about you?

[That's said quickly, with her trying hard not to look at Rena]

[She frowns slightly, swinging her legs in thought- but eventually she just smiles again.]

Rena's okay. [She nods to herself.] It's been a little scary for a while, but...I think things are getting better again.

Yeah... yeah, things have been looking up a lot, lately.

[Haruhi frowns to herself. She knows she caused everything to go bad in the first place]

[She giggles softly, with perhaps a slightly melancholy tone to it.]

So what did you want to talk about, Haru-chan?

[...Want nothing. She doesn't want any of this. But Rena, Rena of all people deserves to hear it from her. She looks up at the sky as best she can and-]

I'm sorry. For... all the stuff lately.

[..There is silence here. But it's a waiting sort of silence.

Rena isn't stupid. She can guess, vaguely, some of the things Haruhi may be referencing. But not all of them. So she remains silent.]

Hmmm?

...I - all the things wrong with Keiichi in the last month. It's- ["all my fault" - but it's not. Some of it is the syndrome, some of it is Minato, a lot of it is the Malnosso. She has to believe that. She has to believe she isn't accountable for at least some of it.]

...I caused a lot of it. I'm sure that made it hard for you.

[Rena remains silent. To the point where it might start getting really awkward and uncomfortable-

So it may be a bit of a surprise when instead of speaking, Rena only reaches out and attempts to pull Haruhi into a hug.]

[Yeah that was uncomfortable. And when she does Haruhi gasps because in the back of her mind she's wondering if she might need to restrain a murderous Rena (again). But... this doesn't feel quite like that, right? Okay]

[No, this is a perfectly innocent hug! Made to comfort you, Haruhi, because you are obviously taking this badly. All of Rena's rage and despair has long since been used up.

Plus, this is Haruhi. Maybe not Haruki, but Rena loves her all the same.

She doesn't know the entire story...but-]

I don't blame you.

[...Man now she wants to cry all over again. But she won't. She told herself she won't and more than that... more than that, she's happy now, and doesn't need to think about all the bad stuff. her breathing changes, getting a little sharper, but she just nods in the hug]

9th: The Consideration of Haruhi Suzumiya

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