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[wipingallout]

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Backdated to 08/03 late night

[counterfeitphantom]

Akane easily accessed the communal PC once her server connected to the local cognitive network present in Tatsumi Port Island. Weaving through the protocols was child's play but an interesting thing she did notice was that most wireless networks weren't prevalent around 2010, which made her job a little harder since that meant she didn't have many sources to communicate with.

But she really wasn't going to talk on the phone. Not yet, she needed to know if Hamuko was even free to talk to her.

A notification would pop up on the top of Hamuko's phone.

Can we talk?

[wipingallout]

Hamuko had been lounging in the third floor lobby, laying back on the cushy seats as she read through a novel she never finished back home and listening to music through her headphones. It was the screen lighting up that caught her attention from the corner of her eye - she looked to the coffee table and saw a message had come through.

She put the bookmark back in place and sat up, exchanging the book with her phone. Ah! It's Akane.

Of course! I can move the computer to my room if you want to chat one-on-one.

The phrasing of the short message seemed a little sad or worried, after all.

[counterfeitphantom]

The moment the message pops up in Akane's window, she's already checking that notification and tapping into it- not even realizing the way her fingers glitch over the projected keyboard- her cognition struggling to process the anxiety left behind.

Whatever is more comfortable for you but I would prefer it to be private.

I just need you to turn it on.
I am already in the local server

[willowandoak]

[ Shortly after posting a message on the public network, Ren texts Hamuko. ]

hey hamuko
help me out here

[wipingallout]

[...? Oh, a text! Hamuko's been having a grand time trying out this amazing curry and coffee combo. She really wouldn't have expected it to be SO nice. She's been having a grand time chatting off Akechi's ear and laughing about the silly werewolf post.]

∠( ᐛ 」∠)＿
What's up buttercup?

[willowandoak]

my bf is being mean to me ( • ᴖ • ｡)
and ur the only one who can help
he wont let me sweep him off his feet and drag him upstairs bc be has a customer

in text, between last week of april and first week of may

[takutomaruki]

Hamuko-san I meant to say this sooner, but thank you again for the satchel. It’s honestly perfect.
I’ve been using it almost every day now—really sturdy, really well made.

(attached image of: A close-up shot of the inside of the satchel. The inner lining is clean and minimal, with a faint discoloration near the seam where the takoyaki sauce has settled in)

Also wow turns out you just used the stained part for the inside, huh? It's a little embarassing to think about their meeting back then, really I could have been much more smoother than whatever I did back there 🙃

Seriously though, I’m impressed. Great craftsmanship, and really thoughtful design. I’m not easy on my bags and this one’s already held up better than most I’ve owned.

Thanks again, really. This was a very thoughtful gift. 😊

[wipingallout]

Yay!!! I was pretty proud of those satchels, they're cute and pretty sturdy!!

I thought you'd find it funny that I really did make the stained fabric work

and well how often can you say that you LITERALLY bumped into someone right? LOL

When did you want to meet up again? I promised we could chat honestly when you were sobered up!

[takutomaruki]

It's like a fun little inside joke now! Honestly- I might be getting somewhere with using takoyaki as a new dyeing material 😌

Jokes aside- I will try not to bumble next time.

That said- I think we discussed we will follow your lead this time. I haven't explored the Tatsumi Port Island door at all- despite the fact that its reasonably close to Odaiba! I may have missed out on the opportunity completely.

[willowandoak]

[ The night Sam arrives, Hamuko gets a text. ]

hey hi hello
whats up

[wipingallout]

Not muuuuch

whatchu doin

[willowandoak]

im just vibin
so like
i met a newcomer today and he needs friends
and u would be so good at making him less of a sad wilted plant
so i wanted to know if i could give u his number

after Sumi's thread with Evening

[shakenit]

[It's Shinji who texts Hamuko first, as it happens. Your girlfriend's been holed up upstairs since she came back this afternoon. Says she's not hungry.

They are both, at this point, well enough acquainted with Sumire's habits - and appetite - to know this is a blatant fucking lie, and that something is badly wrong. And while Shinji's not going to force food on her until tomorrow, he's not above outsourcing things to Hamuko, who's better equipped to deal with whatever the hell's going on anyway.]

[wipingallout]

That's no good... Hamuko catches the text and decides to make a small batch of rice balls from some of the leftovers. Easy, simple... and hopefully enough to whet an appetite after a heart-to-heart.

Bringing a plate up with her, Hamuko went to Sumi's door, giving it a knock.

"Hey, Vi! Can I come in?"

[shakenit]

Sumire flinches at the knock, and almost tells whoever it is to leave her alone on instinct.

Except, of course, it's the one person here she could maybe stand to talk to right now. (Not the one person she wants to see, because he's not here.)

"I guess."

She's curled up on her bed, clinging to a pillow in the absence of a stuffed animal to strangle, and... she hasn't been crying. It's been a while since she was too numb to cry. She didn't miss the feeling.

[willowandoak]

[ The text arrives the day after Crow's sandwich post hits the network, with all its odd consequences. ]

just wanted to say sorry abt all of that yesterday

[wipingallout]

[Oh! She wasn't expecting one...]

I accept your apology! I promise I'm not upset, I was just taken by surprise yesterday.

backdated to 25/07

[counterfeitphantom]

hellooo are you bored
bc i’m about to do smth extremely cool and possibly illegal and i need a surface-dweller with limbs
preferably someone who can pose as my fam so i don’t get arrested
u in

[wipingallout]

Getting my boots on to be your Boots On The Ground!! Where're we going?

[cybermask]

hey, you wouldn't have happened to hear anything from Ren would you?

[wipingallout]

Ren - Drake Ren, or a different Ren? I haven't run into any of them around Iwatodai today or yesterday, but I was texting Drake earlier this week.

[theappraiserofdeath]

In the depths of the Sea of Souls, there should have been only silence. Only the endless drift, the lull of oblivion cradled within the maternal being. Ryoji had resigned himself to it—the quiet was meant to be all that remained for him, and he had no right to ask for more.

But then—something stirred.

Not the dull ache of existence, not the gnawing of regret. This was different. Something swam through the void like a light breaking through deep, black waters. Flickers. Scattered fragments of color, sound, touch. Laughter, soft and warm. The brush of a hand. A voice—her voice.

Hamuko.

The memories burned too bright. Too alive. But wrong. He knew the truth—knew where she should be, what she had become. She was the Door now, her life sealed away to hold back Nyx. He had felt it, that final severing. She should not be here. And yet—

He reached.

The memories warped as he touched them, like ink spreading across a fragile page. They felt like her—her smile, her defiance, her unbearable tenderness—but there was an emptiness beneath it. A hollowness that made his chest tighten with dread.

"Hamuko..."

[wipingallout]

It was beautiful.

They'd just signed adoption papers... well, Mitsuru had, in particular, but Hamuko had just been able to sign her name as a secondary contact, another legal guardian. She'd cried, happy and overwhelmed and just beside herself - the house with her loved ones was so full, and today, she was bringing in a little boy who'd lost his family.

She'd love him and give him safety and security... not to replace his parents, she never could. But to give him a new home, to spare him the hurt she had grown with. To make him feel loved. She held that tiny hand, walking him to their front door of their little home...

"Hamuko..."

...She paused. That voice... she knows that voice. She looked around her, confused - where was she hearing it from?

"...Ryoji?"

[unit_8910_wolf]

Hey, Hamuko.

You free right now?

[wipingallout]

[It takes a couple of minutes, but she does text back.]

I am now! What's up?