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Post by Akkordian on Sept 12, 2023 2:17:27 GMT
"...oh."
Ava lost interest again, at the mention of what she interpreted as a straight girl. But if there was one thing she was good at, sometimes, it was acting.
"Real nice of her to jazz you up a bit." She says, backtracking a little, "You two sound close. I think."
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Post by Joker on Sept 13, 2023 0:08:23 GMT
"We're probably not as close as I'm making it sound." Yu admits. "But I helped her when she was in trouble, and she's looked up to me since."
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Post by Akkordian on Sept 13, 2023 1:56:27 GMT
"How nice of you." Ava responds, her attempt at acting like she's super invested still failing miserably. "I'm just a bad judge of closeness since I don't have any friends-"
...
"I mean, uh- fuck..."
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Post by Joker on Sept 13, 2023 2:57:43 GMT
Yu seems a bit surprised by Ava’s accidental confession.
“I guess we’re more alike than I thought.” He says, sounding a bit sad. “I know I was just talking about Midori, but she’s not really a friend to me. It’s uh, a little weird to explain. But I don’t have any friends my age.”
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Post by Akkordian on Sept 13, 2023 3:02:01 GMT
Ava tries to scoff, and looks more upset at her own slip-up than anything else.
"What I meant to say is that I'm so popular, I don't really have any close friends. When so many people wanna be around me, it's hard to make that kinda authentic connection, y'know..." The deflection is half-hearted, and so is the way she tries to redirect the conversation, "So? Why don't you have friends, huh?"
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Post by Joker on Sept 13, 2023 23:36:23 GMT
"Oh, that makes sense." Yu replied, believing Ava's lie(?).
"I skip school a lot and I was in a fight once." He explains. "The fight was to help Midori. She was being harassed by some older guy who wouldn't leave her alone, so I stepped in and helped her. But the more the news of the fight spread, the more misinformation spread too. Even though Midori and I tried to tell people the truth, nobody believed us. Since I had a 'history' of being a troublemaker I was labeled a delinquent and no one wanted to talk to me."
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Post by Akkordian on Sept 14, 2023 4:02:25 GMT
Ava actually listens to Yutaro’s backstory dump intently, a sad, sympathetic look in her eyes once he finishes.
“…you too, huh? That sucks, Yutaro. Really. I guess there’s schools full of petty dickheads no matter where you live…”
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Post by Joker on Sept 15, 2023 0:28:05 GMT
"Heh, you can say that again." Yu chuckles, but there's no amusement in it.
"I'm sorry you had to go through it too." He sympathizes with her. "Um..." He hesitates for a moment, unsure if he's overstepping his boundaries. "I'm here if you want to talk about it. Or we could change the subject too if it'd make you uncomfortable."
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Post by Akkordian on Sept 15, 2023 0:52:59 GMT
For a moment, Ava looks like she’s ready to snap again, but it fades quickly as she settles back in to just looking mildly depressed.
“Normally I wouldn’t, but… I didn’t expect to run into a buncha kindred spirits here…” Who could she possibly be referring to, woah, mystery and intrigue! “Tell me. Do you think I was always this slim and pretty and adorable?”
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Post by Joker on Sept 15, 2023 3:05:17 GMT
“I…” Yu hesitates for a moment, afraid of accidentally offending Ava. “If you’re asking, then I’m guessing the answer is no?”
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Post by Akkordian on Sept 15, 2023 3:29:42 GMT
"No, I wasn't." In any other circumstance, Ava would probably be making a big deal about Yutaro assuming she was ugly, or something, but now's really not the time. "I was a really chunky kid. Like, really. And you should know just how cruel kids can be to anybody that's different."
She lets out a sigh, slumping her shoulders and glancing up at the cameras watching their every move. "Remember how fun and cool it was when Pokémon, and Digimon, and all that crap was first coming out, and everyone on the playground all played together and was obsessed with it? I felt like queen of the world, back then, since I was the one that understood the rules the most, and looked all the rumors and secret shit up on my mom's janky old PC."
"But once the fad was over, and everyone else moved on, I was just the fat, pasty geek that was still super into all the games that apparently everyone unanimously decided were dumb and lame. So no one wanted to talk to me anymore, unless it was to call me 'fatty' or tell me how much of a fucking dweeb I was for still bringing my GameBoy to school. And it doesn't even matter that eventually I busted my ass to completely change my image around, because even then no one wanted anything to do with me."
She gets increasingly tense as she monologues, staring at a random point on the floor while blinking back the tears starting to sting at the corner of her eyes.
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Post by Joker on Sept 16, 2023 20:53:36 GMT
Yu silently listens to Ava's story.
"People really can be jerks." He says, placing a hand on Ava's shoulder in a (hopefully) comforting manner. "I know it doesn't mean much, but I'm truly sorry you had to go through that, Ava."
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Post by Akkordian on Sept 17, 2023 0:22:12 GMT
Ava bristles when Yu puts his hand on her, but she doesn’t slap his hand away or anything.
“Thanks, I guess…” She’s trying to act aloof but the waver in her voice betrays how much she actually appreciates hearing that. “It’s all in the past, or whatever, and like I said, I completely changed my image around, so.” She halfheartedly shoots Yu a wink and a peace sign.
“Anyways, that’s why I try to let people know what the fuck is up. Especially if they’re real self-important or think they’re hot shit, the real queen’s gotta show ‘em who’s boss. But, I don’t bully people. We clear on that now?”
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Post by Joker on Sept 17, 2023 18:05:17 GMT
"Crystal." Yu gives Ava a small smile and a thumbs up, as he moves his hand from her shoulder.
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Post by Doctor Nanjo M.D. on Oct 24, 2023 18:35:31 GMT
[Chapter 3 - Made permanent by Yutaro]
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Post by Joker on Oct 24, 2023 23:01:36 GMT
Yu sits in the cat cafe, brushing the cat he named Momo.
"So cute." He smiles, as Momo purrs happily.
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Post by Akkordian on Oct 25, 2023 3:21:01 GMT
Ava enters, once again, into the purgatory she is trapped in for all her transgressions during her stint on this mortal coil, also known as this chapter location’s cat café.
“Oh, hey Yu,” She nonchalantly says, filled with existential dread and horrible deja vu as she walks closer, “I’m surprised you’re not hanging out with Dae.”
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Post by Joker on Oct 25, 2023 19:49:40 GMT
“Hi, Ava.” Yu says, waving to her with his free hand.
“What do you mean?” He asks. “Sure we’re friends, but we don’t have to be together all the time.”
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Post by Akkordian on Oct 26, 2023 20:05:55 GMT
“You can’t play dumb with me, Yu.” Ava taunts her friend(?) as she walks over and squats next to him.
With a devious smirk, she leans close and whispers, “I know you like hiiiim!”
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Post by Joker on Oct 26, 2023 21:33:01 GMT
Yu was still brushing Momo when Ava leaned in to bully taunt him, and the shock of it nearly caused him to rip a chunk of the poor cat's fur out. He drops the brush and turns away from Ava, his face red.
"I-It's not like that..." He replies. "We're just friends. That's all."
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Post by Akkordian on Oct 31, 2023 7:15:53 GMT
Ava smiles mirthfully like the smug piece of shit that she is.
“Riiiiiight.” She teases, barely resisting the urge to roll her eyes even though Yu’s not even looking at her currently, “And Raphael and I are just Roommates.”
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Post by Joker on Oct 31, 2023 22:07:06 GMT
"Are you saying you like Raphael?" Yu asks, still facing away from Ava.
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Post by Akkordian on Nov 5, 2023 2:54:56 GMT
"Wh-" Ava's mojo is clearly shaken up by the very simple comeback, and she starts to sputter, "Ye-uh-w- So what if I do?"
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Post by Joker on Nov 5, 2023 3:44:53 GMT
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you lose your cool like that.” Yu chuckles.
“And I don’t have a problem with it, if that’s what you think. Raphael’s nice, and she’s pretty too.”
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