wipingallout

"Right... I get the impression that his father was suppressing the undesirable parts," Hamuko nodded, her voice carrying a rare tone. She was willing to hear quite a few people out, but... she couldn't see any rationale besides self interest or malice for doing what someone had done to Morning.

"It seems like all of the parts of Morning that are hurting and want to lash out, to me... the more extreme end of someone's thoughts not tempered by the ego or superego, right?"

Getting called worthless even with that in mind, though... that's cruel. Difficult. Painful.

"I believe no one is worthless. Especially not you, Sumire."

"I can understand wanting to cling to the very few people you have, but... not like that. Not by making them change." She says, having tied herself in knots trying to win Kasumi's understanding - but at least Sumire was doing that to herself. It's not really better, but it is different.

Sumire sighs, her breath finally catching like she might start crying. "I felt like I was for so long. Sometimes I still do."

"I know..." Hamuko whispered, resting her cheek against the top of Sumire's head. Worthless wasn't the word for Hamuko, back then, it was more...

"It's okay. The negative self-talk is kinda hard to shake off, it takes a while. But you're not worthless. You're smart, considerate, and thoughtful... if you want to keep helping Morning, then I support you. I've been trying to help him, too, even if I've been kind of just cluelessly bumbling around it."

Shifting a bit, Hamuko moved so she could give Sumi a proper hug. "And if you don't want to because it hurts, that's completely okay too. I'm in your corner whatever you do."

"Futaba-senpai did say it's actually harder to stop putting yourself down, once you have a handle on making it to the next day. She also said bad days would still happen." And Sumire's trying to keep that in mind, she really is, but... sometimes the demons win out.

She leans into the hug. "It hurts, of course, it hurts, but - we can't just leave him like that. Him or Midnight-san or anyone else."

"I agree. I'm sorry he said such cruel things - but it wasn't true, and even if Morning isn't grateful by the end, it's the right thing to do. We can do it."

Thankless work... she was definitely familiar with that.

"I've got your back. I'm all in on helping them too. You can call for me anytime, I promise," she said softly - for as long as Igor had her here, she was going to give her all to help everyone in here. That has to be why he brought her in, after all.

That's finally enough for Sumire to start crying. She's not even worried about making a mess of Hamuko's shirt; she knows she needs it.

"I don't - I might need to back off from this one. Trying to directly help Morning-san, I mean. Whenever Midnight-san's Palace becomes something we're digging into, I feel like I have to be there for that, and... I can only take so much of this at once."

"That makes sense too. Leave him to me, then - I promise I won't let either of you down," she assured, rubbing Sumi's back, glad that the tears are coming. It seems like they needed to come out, after all.

"And I'll be there for Midnight's Palace, too. This stuff doesn't hit me the way it hurts those of you who've felt it before, who've been hurt before... I'm ready to jump in and back you all up, or tackle things when it's too much. I know you all would do the same for me, too."

"Afterward. Afterward, I could still talk to him about it. But - I don't think I can be part of freeing him."

Afterward, he's going to need people who can sympathise.

"Of course we would. The whole point of being here is that we don't have to handle things alone, isn't it?"

"Exactly!" Hamuko agreed, a light lilt in her voice as she gave Sumire a little affectionate squeeze in the hug. "If we ever get some jerk named Ikutsuki around here, I'll call in that favor. I doooon't want to deal with him," she laughed a little, still rubbing her girlfriend's back, letting her hurt and go through things - and at the end, things would be the same, and okay.

"Even if some alternate universe version of him shows up that's all puppies and rainbows with no betrayal, I don't even want to look at his face. I'd rather try to climb Tartarus all in one night."

"If he hurt you, then you shouldn't have to deal with him." Sumire doesn't recognise the name - it's not one Aragaki-san's mentioned, but then, he's pretty quiet about his own history - but for something like that, she doesn't need to. Whoever that guy is, he hurt Hamuko. If she doesn't want to see his face again, she shouldn't have to.

"Yeah. I'll let you guys deal with him, if he shows. I'll tell you more about what happened at some point," she promised, leaning her head back just a bit to try and peek at Sumire. No need to add more stressful and painful stories unless it really would help, right?

"I made some snacks. Wanna eat them together?"

"Just make sure we have the information we need, and I'm sure some of us can take care of the rest." Someone that deceptively nice would probably ping in the Nav, even.

"...I think I could eat, yeah."

"Definitely. If he shows, I'll probably make some big scary disclaimer post, blah blah here's what this bastard did to us in my universe, be careful in case he's similar or the same one, something like that," she explained with a little sigh of relief.

With a little playful giggle, she held Sumire snug in the hug... so she could leaaaaan over and grab the plate on the desk, without tipping either of them over to fall off the bed.

"I took that salmon I made a few nights ago - the dish that was just a little too salty? So I think the rice will make it much easier to eat so I didn't waste it," she laughed lightly, settling them both upright again and setting the plate in her own lap so Sumire could get comfortable as she needed. "We can keep talking if you want, or we can watch a movie or listen to music if you want to just unwind. Whatever you want, Vi."

Sumire squeaks when Hamuko leans them both over in pursuit of the plate, but she doesn't try to squirm away. Among other things, that'd just end with the food on the floor, and then what good does it do?

"...A movie sounds nice." She grabs the pillow she was clinging to before Hamuko came in, the better to use it as a makeshift lap table. "And - if you need to tell Aragaki-san I'm eating something, go ahead. He sounded worried when he asked if I wanted lunch, but that whole thing just... wrecked my appetite for a while."

"Definitely! He's such a worrywart, it's part of his charm," Hamuko giggled a bit, taking one of the rice balls and taking a bite. She figured that if anything, if Sumi's appetite came back, the whole rest of the plate would get polished off - just as planned.

"Mine was just like that too... he would always furrow his brows at us when we were eating instant food a little too much, he'd always mutter and complain about how Akihiko can't just eat nothing but protein powder, stuff like that. He'd complain, and then all softly go, look after him for me, alright?"

A little gossip, a little chatter - help fill the room with a little warmth, a little normalcy. That always helped her.

It'll get polished off and then she'll want to go look for dinner, by the end of whatever movie they settle on.

"Well, you can't just eat nothing but instant food or protein powder. Sooner or later the missing nutrients will catch up with you." Sumire sighs. "I'd ask how he can't see his own worth, but that's pot-kettle territory for sure."

"It is exactly pot-kettle. Each of you are wonderful, and make my day better every moment you're in it - that's more than 'worth' enough," Hamuko hummed, reaching over and tucking some of Sumire's hair behind her ear. Cutie.

"I - I don't know if I'll ever see it. But I'm trying." And that's a damn sight better than where she was at the beginning of the school year.

"You might, someday! And in the meantime, you can trust me. I have good taste in cute girls," Hamuko teased, giving Sumi a wink. "I'll go run and grab the laptop so we can watch in here. Think about what sort of movie you wanna watch! A specific one or narrow it down to a genre."

"I'll - think about it?" Gods, what did she do to deserve Hamuko.

What kind of movie does she want to watch... nothing with a sad ending, that's for sure. And not her sister's favorite version of Cinderella, not when she's trying to stop moping.

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