ridestherider | (no subject)

[ he's a little hesitant ]

Natsumi?

[Nothing for a few seconds.]

He's such a jerk.

Mm.

[ tentatively reaching out to drop a hand on your shoulder ]

I should've known, it's always me getting left behind.

. . . We don't really get a choice with this place, though. That isn't anyone's fault. It . . . sucks, but . . . .

This has happened outside of Camp, too.

Thing is, they don't need me at all. Daiki-san and Yuusuke, they gravitate to Tsukasa-kun. They'll probably forget I was even supposed to be there if I'm here too much longer.

[Putting it on a shelf.]

I don't think you're the type of person that could easily be forgotten. Just . . . well, I'll use Hina's words: boys are stubborn and stupid and don't understand a girl's heart.

Well, these don't want to.

[Closing drawers and trying to clean up.]

[ he can pick things up in the meantime ]

Have you ever asked them about that?

Yeah, that'd go over well.

[ he's coming up behind you and giving you a little knock on the head with his knuckles ]

You won't know if you don't try, right?

[Batting at your hand.]

Yuusuke's like my little brother and probably wouldn't get it anyway, Daiki-san doesn't care about anyone who isn't himself or Tsukasa-kun, and Tsukasa-kun has made it very clear we're just "comrades" and that he has no problem running off and doing who knows what and leaving me here.

I can't say I haven't done the same thing Tsukasa did. But I did it because I didn't want anyone else getting hurt. And if this Yuusuke's like a little brother, and he thinks of you as a sister, there's your answer. You're family. That doesn't mean he'll forget about you.

[ can't say anything about this Daiki dude, though ]

He knows I can take care of myself, I didn't train for nothing!

[Slamming a drawer shut.]

[ quietly ]

That's why we tried to leave Xiu behind. So there would still be someone to protect everyone else if something happened to us.

[ I mean he showed up later anyway but that is beside the point ]

If you're going to take his side in everything it might be better if you left, because I'm just gonna get angrier.

I'm not trying to take sides. I've just been there before. In his shoes, and in yours.

[Just huffing and picking her way over to her own bed, yanking a curtain divider closed behind her.]

[ he'll sit in a chair and pick up some nearby book in the meantime, then ]

[She's just going to stay over here, although the other bed in the room looks like the one that's been slept in.]

[ he'll give you about half an hour of grumpy times before he's going to just make his way in and sit on the edge of the bed

still not saying anything, though ]

[She's just laying on her side and holding onto a pillow, not saying anything either.]

[ are you going to punch him if he just crawls in and snuggles against your back? ]

[No, I'm just going to be very, very tense.]

[ have some very careful headpets then

tbh he has no idea what to do in these sorts of situations so he's kind of rolling with it ]