korekara | balance inbox

[At first, it probably doesn't seem all that bad. The common room is neat, with all its furniture in place. The couch looks well-used, but nobody's sitting on it right now. There's a desktop computer, turned off, on a desk.

The bedroom is another story. While one bed is made and unused, the other is just a mattress with a tangled-up bundle of sheets forgotten in a corner. There's clothes on the floor only vaguely in the area of the dresser. There's a backpack on one of the desks that looks half-full of containers of food. The only neat piece of clothing is an outfit that looks like what Lucretia was wearing, and that's clearly because it was just purchased.

Also, there's a skeleton on the unmade bed. He looks a little surprised, though he covers it up quickly.]

Uh. Hey there, kiddo.

[Seriously, why is there a child here?]

[ Fresh out of her inoculation, Honoka has exactly one thing on her mind: bed. After everything that's happened, she's so tired she can barely think, let alone process the information that's just been dunked into her head. Or rather, she's not entirely sure she really wants to. By the sounds of things, it really seems like she's here all by herself, without her parents or Yukiho or even anyone from μ's here with her. It's a scary thought.

But that's all going on under the surface. She hasn't even got the brainpower to be aware of how anxious she is. She just drags herself through the admittedly, pretty sweet digs she's been assigned, pushes open the bedroom door and– ]

... Huh?

[ Huh?!

That's a skeleton, right? She blinks a few times, just to make sure her vision's clear and that's totally still a skeleton. A skeleton with a weirdly deep voice, too?! Why does a skeleton even have a voice in the first place?!

Honoka's mouth hangs open but for a solid five seconds, no other words come out. But then she closes it, clears her throat and tries again. This time all she manages is– ]

H... Hey...?

[ what else can she even SAY ]

[This sure is awkward! At least Sans is fully dressed in his typical hoodie and shorts ensemble. He eases himself off his bed.]

So, lemme guess--they put you in this apartment. [Why would they put a child in an apartment with a skeleton man? Who is overseeing this?]

Ah... yeah...

[ At least she's managing? words? Even if she's still looking at Sans like he's in the process of growing three more heads as they speak. ]

I uh... I kinda just got here! And they were like "here's your room" so uh, here I am!

Guess they didn't tell you about the skeletons in the closet. [Not that Sans makes a habit of standing in closets. Maybe later.] So, guess you're gonna want the bedroom.

So you really are a skeleton?!

[ Oh, NOW she can finally talk in words of more than a single syllable. Progress! ]

How are you, like– talking? Or breathing? Or doing anything?!

Magic. [WINK.] You'll get used to it. I'm not even the weirdest thing going on here.

But... but you're a skeleton! [ yes, Honoka, we've established that. ] Is that just a thing around here? Magic talking skeletons you have to share a room with?!

[ She's not exactly yelling, but her voice is going up to like, a six when it really only needs to be a four right now. ]

[Sans raises his hands in a sort of "calm down" gesture, because while he doesn't have ear drums, she might blow his out anyway at this rate.] Unless a new one showed up, I'm the only skeleton here. But don't let me stop you from complaining to whoever assigns the rooms if you wanna.

Miss Honoka,

This is Mia Fey. I wanted to check in on you and see how you've been doing since we've been able to return to base. Please let me know if there's anything you might need I can assist with.

I also wanted to thank you and commend you for your hard work. We would still be in a lot of trouble without you and Kokichi and Izuku.

[It's a little awkward and not too different from what she sends Kokichi and Izuku, but all the same it's genuine.]

Edited (I MEANT THAT TO BE TEXT) 2019-10-27 23:11 (UTC)

oh wow, hi Fey-san! ヽ(o´∀`)ﾉ I'm glad you're doing okay!

[ Or, well, Honoka assumes she's doing okay. She sent this text after all, so she can't be doing terribly, right? Right. ]

I'm doing a lot better now. I've talked to lots of people and Alex-kun helped me out a lot. So I'm just sort of getting by, you know?

I've got some things I want to do planned, so right now I'm concentrating on that! And just doing my best to help everyone cheer up a little.

How about you?

[Listen if she isn't okay, Mia sure isn't about to dump that on a teen idol. Big Sis is fine. It's all good.]

That's good to hear. Alex is a good kid, I'm glad you've gotten to know him.

I'm doing alright! I've been keeping Maya company at the medbay. You got all checked out, right?

yep! i'm in tiptop condition! tbh i was pretty lucky that i didn't get more beat up in the first place... mostly my throat was just a little scratchy after i lost my voice but i'm all better now!

how's Maya-chan doing?

[ UH OH SISTERS ]

I know the feeling. Compared to the others, I feel like I got out rather lucky.

[The losing her identity part was only almost lethal Once! and not even to herself!]

Maya's recovering just fine.

But if you see her, and don't mind doing me the favor, make sure you spend a little time with her.

[Luckily, Honoka can't see the sentences Mia starts and erases. It's Maya's business to tell if she's afraid, and she doesn't want to worry Honoka.]

[Michael's gotten a lot of young girls knives this holiday season, but when it comes to Honoka, he just can't really picture her stabbing anyone. That seems like a problem, perhaps. Things are going to get bad, and even if it shouldn't be the first option, Michael can imagine plenty of scenarios where you just have to do a violence.

But if it's a problem, it probably isn't his to solve. The package he leaves for Honoka is not particularly weapon-shaped.]

I hope you like this. Happy holidays!

- Michael

[It's some pop-y music! Michael has no idea what idol music is, actually, so he just found something that seemed upbeat? That's probably good.]

[ honoka will find a handmade microphone ornament, daifuku of music notes, and a card from maya wishing her happy candlenights! the card is full of various doodles of honoka in various poses (such as singing), and also one of niel that is more defined than the rest. the card details how cute and strong and talented maya thinks honoka is, and how happy she is to have her as a teammate! it wishes her happiness and safety. ]

[A heavy package shows up outside of Honoka's dorm. It's wrapped in a bright, glittery wrapping paper covered in stars. A card with a strange drawing of a creature on the front has been taped to the top of the present.
The card reads:]

Dear Honoka,

Nana is sorry that we haven't gotten to chat much, since a lot has been going on. Nana would love to hang out and talk about idol stuff at some point~! Until then, Nana has gotten you some energy drinks that we use in our production company☆ Or at least something nearly identical that they just happened to have at Fantasy Costco. If Nana had had these when she was an underground idol, Nana could've worked extra hard and maybe even been scouted even sooner♪

Happy Candlenights!
(The bottom of the card is covered entirely in Nana's autograph.

[The package contains a dozen bottles of the energy drink. The front is decorated by a star label, and the cap is adorned with an obtrusive plastic mold of a similar star. The drinks appear to vary in potency, with three of each kind. They are cryptically labeled as +10, +20, +30, and MAX.]

[Happy Candlenights! Honoka receives: A kotatsu for the room, co-present with Sayori. A bunch of temporary tattoos that say stuff like GOOD JOB and other motivational things. Sugar cookies decorated to look like microphones.]

[Honoka wakes up to a gift box at the foot of her bed a handful of days after Candlenights, on top of which is a handmade card. It's full of doodles of her singing and performing, plus one of her dancing and singing with Niel. There's a message inside that reads:]

Sorry for how late this is, Honoka-chan! Christmas is a couple's holiday, so I didn't think to really give anyone gifts. But if anyone deserves a gift it's totally you, so I hope you like it! Also, sorry for how late this is too, but thanks for being there in Wonderland. I don't know if I could have gone through that alone.

Happy holidays!

- Oma

[Inside the box itself is a bag of handmade treats (which don't look very appetizing, but they're edible and they taste okay), plus some cute accessories. Hair pins, bracelets, anklets, the works, adorned with brightly colored charms and cute sounding bells. She'll also find a warm winter coat, altered to look like something an idol would wear on stage, but still functional to wear around to keep warm, with some matching gloves and scarf.]

[ A day late, there's a wrapped present to Honoka! It's...rather large, actually? Open it up and she'll find a camping kit, with a little note: For when this is all over. So you'll be prepared next time. ☺ And, in a small envelope, some simple music note earrings, self-explanatory. ]

[A messily-wrapped box, with Honoka's name written directly on the colorful paper. There's a handmade card on top, decorated with stickers and doodles of wintry images like snow, gingerbread men, etc. It's not properly signed, but the signature isn't necessary. On one side of the interior:]

Tall green trees in lights twinkling bright,
Sparkling strands of tinsel and snow pure white,
The smell of hot cocoa and apple cider too,
A very merry Candlenights, from Sayori to you!
[And then on the other side:]

Every day, I'm really happy that you decided to be my roommate again. I can't imagine life here without you. Even though I don't really know how, I think it would be really fun to write a song with you someday! So I got us something so we can match for our performance, whenever it is! Thank you for being my friend, and don't forget that you're stronger than you think.

[Inside the envelope with the card, on sturdy white stationery dotted with pale blue polka dots, is a poem.

Inside the box is a bunch of music-themed sticker sheets, a cute orange suspender skirt (which matches one that Sayori has gotten for herself in pink), a loaf of strawberry creme bread shaped like Honoka (baked with Natsuki's help), and a New New Aspen ornament carved into a µ shape.]

[You receive an ominous little message on your bracer that might have been intended for you? Or it might have been intended for someone else? It’s hard to say. But suddenly there's a "poem" for you to read with no explanation at all.]

A Lass Called She

There once was a young lass from moon.
She said, "See the lovely rune!"
It was rather crescent,
But not very cessant,
She just couldn't say no to the boon.

[ see, someone with a braincell might rightly find this ominous but Honoka is 1) friends with Sayori and accustomed to incidental poetry and more importantly 2) lacking in any sense of self-preservation. So instead of weirded out, she's delighted. ]

O M G
is this a poem for me???
IT'S SO COOL!!!!
it's kind of like a nursery rhyme or a little song or something lolo

[......?? Who did she send this message too?! Yuri feels almost immediately embarrassed. She's not quite sure what her mind and fingers are doing.]

Oh, I'm sorry I didn't mean to send this...

But. It's called a limerick, actually. It's like a little song. It's a type of poem.

it's super cool!!! it kinda feels like it'd be super fun to read out loud, you know? i could totally hear it bouncing all around in my head while i was reading it!

[ technical poem terminology from ya girl honoka ]

have you written any more like this?? they're SO fun

[It's so fun...? Usually, she finds limericks childish and simple... So- Why did she write it?]

Is it really that good? I thought it was rather simple.

They're not too hard to write. But I haven't actually done that many...

But I'm glad you like it, I guess?

yeah! like i said it was really fun and bouncy. maybe it's so fun cos it's so simple to write? so you don't have to worry too hard about putting everything together in the right place. you can just go wild and do whatever you want with it!

now i kinda wanna give it a try too......

Maybe I was just trying to get all my thoughts out without thinking too hard about what it says...

I usually don't do that. So, I'm ... I'm glad it came off that way.

Well, a limerick is a five-line poem with the same rhythmic scheme as I did above. In which the first, second and fifth line rhyme, while the third and fourth lines are shorter and share a different rhyme.

You're more than welcome to try it out.

alright! gimme a little while and I'll do my best to write one!!
once i've got it perfect i'll send it right to you and you've gotta tell me what you think
just promise you'll be gentle i'm still new at all this poem stuff lollllll

[It's actually quite nice to have someone so interested in something Yuri has done... Even if it was a mistake in the first place.]

I'm looking forward to what you write.

balance inbox

moon base - room 104

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Pretend she's not as late as I am | Days after Wonderland CTA | >defeynseattorney

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a few days before the 25th

present!

very early in the morning on the 25th

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Dec 30th

26th.

25th

early january;

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