Chapter 1: Goodbye, High-School Life

[hopefullyyours]

Who: Nagito Komaeda and anybody else
Broadcast: Fleetwide video
Action: On the Marsiva
When: 1/30

[Komaeda shows the stars before himself, arranging his bad arm one last time to make certain nothing is showing. It's a wasted effort- his hand is already tightly bundled up under multiple layers of bandage and clothing. He switches the view so he's fully visible.]

Hello, hello! What an interesting setting we're in now. I don't suppose Monokuma has given us any announcements to explain why it looks like we're in space?

[He smiles, eyebrows quirking up. It's an expression that seems to beg forgiveness, though there's a shadow of another expression, a colder one, behind his eyes. The combination of those two layered expressions reads as contempt, but is it just that?] And, goodness my, but it's quiet here. Have I been locked up again? In punishment? I promise you all, I did what I did in order to further you-

... To further hope.

Comments

Re: video;

[hopefullyyours]

How old are you? [Admittedly, he's partially curious because he can't recall the last time he met anybody outside of his own age range, much less anybody outside of that range he found himself taking any real interest in.]

... If you don't think hope's an ultimate good, what do you think it is? [Pardon him if he sounds a little dubious. Nothing to see here except a HOPE-OBSESSED FREAK.]

Re: video;

[aberrant_type]

I am thirty! [Miraculously. Most scouts don't make it this long. Most scouts, statistically speaking, don't make it past sixteen, but Hange can't be super high school level scout. That's Levi, or maybe Erwin.]

And... hard work, maybe? Haha, this is a heavy conversation for a first meeting, kiddo!

Re: video;

[hopefullyyours]

I don't think I've met anybody that old in a while.

[Komaeda makes a small face at the nickname.] Do you think so? Thinking about hope makes me feel light as air, personally. [And he hates, deep down inside, that he feels a trickle of something other than excitement and anticipation when he thinks of hope. That trickle is getting bigger, he thinks. Fears.]

Re: video;

[aberrant_type]

What? Did they all die off? [And she laughs, because it's meant to be joking. Little does she know. And she is, for the moment, oblivious to his internal conflict, although the remark itself sounds so affected to her. What a goofy little guy.]

I'd say the greatest good depends on what you decide to use it for. It's hard to call anything good when intention makes a difference, you know?

1/2

[hopefullyyours]

[Despite himself, despite what he's survived, despite what he knows but doesn't remember about himself, Komaeda is still a teenager. His emotions aren't particularly controlled to start with, so at Hange's joke, panic, shame, horror, and loathing flicker across his face.]

That's-

2/2

[hopefullyyours]

With hope, people can recover from anything! [It's not really emotional control that snaps him from that dismal blend into a wild-eyed state of obsession, but rather, something more primal.] The greatest good about hope is that it can only be used for positive things, isn't that right?! With the light of hope burning in our breast, how can we do anything but put that fire to good use!?

[aberrant_type]

[She quiets down as she watches that whole display and the silent seconds drag out a bit afterward. Hm. Hm. Clearly that remark was out of line... but that was a pretty interesting reaction to it.

Veeery interesting.]

Calm down, kid.

[hopefullyyours]

Hahaha, I suppose I did get a little excited there... [He huffs out a small breath, hoping he can convince himself that he sounds out of breath with excitement, not exhausted with uncertainty.]

Anyway, I believe that hope is a very important force. If we can't rely on hope to guide us forward, what could we rely on? [Komaeda laughs. It's a small and light sound.]

[aberrant_type]

Well.

[That's veeery suspicious, in her humble opinion. But she'll forge onwards without digging deeper for now.]

I'll tell you one thing, life is certainly less pleasant when it's hopeless. Why'd you burn down a warehouse?

[hopefullyyours]

Ah? There were some things inside that really needed to go. Aside from that, it was an attempt at a controlled burn- so it would take out some other things that shouldn't have been there to start with as well, probably in the aftermath.

[aberrant_type]

And what kind of things were those?

[hopefullyyours]

In terms of percentages, mostly paper stand-up figures, I think. It was an old factory.

[aberrant_type]

Why on earth would anyone produce things like that?

[hopefullyyours]

It's really a good question, isn't it? That bear isn't honestly even really to my tastes... Monokuma, I mean. He's a stuffed bear that's half-and-half black and white.

I suppose it might have been a vanity project.

[aberrant_type]

Oh, so this is your little Monokuma! What an unusual name. Was the factory full of paper stand up figures of him by any chance?

[hopefullyyours]

Little? I think he's actually pretty large. Maybe... [He waves his hand in the air at a heigh pretty inappropriate for a stuffed bear.]

It was. They were horrible! Not bad to play dominos with, though...

[aberrant_type]

What an unusual place you've come from! Do you dislike this Monobear? I can't see a good reason to burn paper figures of him otherwise.

[hopefullyyours]

Monobear is a direct vessel of despair itself! How could I have any other feelings towards him but the utmost of loathing? He's the complete opposite of hope, at least in my mind.

I can't begin to voice my contempt for something that so completely embodies despair itself. [Aaaaand here come the crazy eyes again.]

[aberrant_type]

[And again:] Easy there, kiddo...

[hopefullyyours]

Don't worry, really, he's just sort of one of those figures that inspires that sort of reaction. If any of my classmates were asked.... why, they'd probably have a very similar reaction!

[For once, Komaeda is being completely truthful. Monokuma isn't exactly a popular figure.]

[aberrant_type]

Well!

[She's observing him closely now, but letting it go a bit.]

I'll be just fascinated to meet him if he ever arrives. Do let me know, would you?