come out of hiding, i'm right here beside you

[barehands]

[A while after the execution has ended, everyone will find a simple note slipped under their door.]

If you don't want to be alone after everything that's happening, some of us will be in the dining room. Even if you decide not to come, please remember that you aren't alone here.

[The note isn't signed, but the handwriting is feminine and neat.

For anyone who decides to come, there's a good array of food laid out on the table. There are some small and simple cakes, cookies, and pastries, a healthy amount of okonomiyaki, okayu, and other Japanese dishes (with a focus on rice and eggs), along with curry. In addition, there are pancakes, and a large pot of soup. It looks like a few people collaborated to make enough food for everyone here.

Just like the meal they shared together earlier in the week, the candles from the storage room lend a more peaceful light than the fluorescent lights above.]

Comments

[nachetanya]

I'm going to, of course! But you know that hair keeps smells for a long time even so!

[ :T :T ]

[carnivorously]

Then wash it again.

[He really doesn't care, sadly. While he may be a bit more tactful about other things, smoking is not one of them.]

[nachetanya]

Aren't there any remedies that you know I could ask the Transmitter about?

[ :T :T :T :T ]

[carnivorously]

Why don't you ask her? Maybe she knows.

[In other words, he really doesn't.]

1/2

[nachetanya]

Well, then I will.

[ :T :T :T :T :T :T ]

[nachetanya]

... After today, Kogami, while I'm still not pleased with the label, I can see why you called yourself a "hunting dog."

[carnivorously]

Why's that?

[Just curious of her assessment.]

[nachetanya]

Your smile.

[ She points at the man's face ]

You were very excited during things earlier today.

[carnivorously]

I can't deny that I was. I enjoy doing this.

[There's no doubt about that at all especially if people saw how excited he was.]

One could say I have a strong passion for my job.

[nachetanya]

Clearly.

[ she laughs a little, actually. ]

Some might have even called your excitement unnatural.

[carnivorously]

Would they have? Most people have things they get excited about. Mine just happens to be crime.

[That's what makes it unnatural, Kogami...]

[nachetanya]

[ She actually laughs at that, a short little giggle before she moves around some items on the plate. She sets the fork down though, once more taking up her hair to she might smell it. Ugh. ]

That's true! That's true, though most would consider that an odd passion.

[carnivorously]

Well, it's either that or I'm in my room all day reading, then beating up on a large punching bag.

[His other pastimes, he supposes. Sometimes he can sit still, so long as he has a cigarette in hand (or is drugged up at a hospital on doctor's orders).]

[nachetanya]

[ She considers that for a moment, and then tilts her head to the side ]

So if crime is your passion... do you have a goal, an ambition?

[carnivorously]

[He pauses for a moment, but he's pretty sure silence will be more telling than anything and saying 'no' would be an obvious lie.]

I do.

[And that's all he says to that as he takes a bite of his eggs.]

[nachetanya]

[ she nods ]

That's good. I feel that everyone should.

[ . . . ]

To me.... having your "goal" be revenge seems just too sad.

[ She's still thinking about Arietta, it seems ]

[carnivorously]

[He's silent for a moment longer.]

Is it sad? I don't think she wanted to be pitied. She simply wished to see her goal through in hopes it would allow herself to finally be at peace and hopefully bring peace to those who lost their lives.

[Just two cents from Kogami. Whether she wanted those two cents or not.]

She had a goal and while we can't agree with how she went about it, she was going to do everything she could to achieve it.

[nachetanya]

To me, that goal can't be called an ambition, though. [ She runs her hand on the table. ] ... It could even be called myopic. To live up to the standards of the dead and carry on their hopes is important, of course. But vengeance like that doesn't give someone a way forward, it just traps them with fulfilling an obligation. In truth, it's far closer to a "duty" than it is even a "dream."

[ She shakes her head again. ]

No, I can't agree with her methods, you're right. But I'm not sure I can agree with the motivations, either.

[carnivorously]

Even so. When someone is filled with vengeance, it's all they can think about.

"What can I do to make sure that bastard meets the same fate?"

[He takes a drag of his cigarette and looks away as he exhales the smoke.]

Arietta and I... we're alike when it comes to that.

[nachetanya]

... I cannot understand that.

[ But. You know what? ]

Perhaps it's merely that I haven't had a strong enough motivation for it, though.

[carnivorously]

Or you haven't had someone you cared for taken from you.

[Which, he thinks Nachetanya is lucky. Even if she has, to not be fueled by vengeance, well, maybe she's stronger than he is in that regard.]

[nachetanya]

[ She considers, for a moment, saying something more about this, to discuss her past...

But no, if Kogami or anyone else won't ask, there's no reason to volunteer it. Her profile betrays enough about her already. ]

Kogami, do they have ceremonies for the dead, where you're from?

[carnivorously]

Funerals. They have funerals.

[But latent criminals don't get one. Just a fact. A harsh fact about his society.]

[nachetanya]

Yes, it's the same in Piena. Ideally, someone will be buried beneath their house and with the items that were important to them, with a priest to oversee their funeral.

[ She frowns ]

Of course, there is no way to do that here. We don't even know what became of Felicia's body.

[carnivorously]

No there isn't. However, I doubt it would do any good to mourn for the dead.

[It would just likely make everyone more sad. Though it could bring solidarity to the group, too.]