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[spacialeyes]

You don’t sound like you mean that?

[Inaba never lies to him—-

Wait no. Yeah. Yeah, she’s a liar sometimes.

He nods and closes his eyes.]

Mm. Okay. My eyes are closed.

[dereban]

Okay.

[ She rubs her hands together and then starts up music. It's ambient sounds, meant to be calming and to keep him focused on the sound itself.

Inaba keeps herself behind him, keeping herself as quiet as she possibly can.

She can't help but wonder how she can make him mad... well, this is probably fine-- ]

Can you hear me?

[ Inaba changes the cadence to her voice, dropping emotions from every syllable that she speaks. ]

[spacialeyes]

[Yuuto is quite focused on the ambience at first. His instinct is to draw a mental map of what kind of space he's hearing, but he quickly gives up on that when he hears her voice.

He nods.]

Mm. I can hear you, Inaba. Is everything okay?

[dereban]

[ Inaba's idea on "how to make Yuuto angry" is not a good idea. She has to internally steel herself for this. She keeps her voice even as she continues to speak. ]

'Inaba'...? Oh, right. That's the name of this vessel, isn't it?

[spacialeyes]

[He nearly spins around in his chair. It does occur to him that this might be a trick. Inaba had said before that she wasn't sure he could ever talk to her Narrator, after all.

But he goes along with it for the moment, responding with a mix of politeness and assertive correction:]

'Inaba' is the name of my best friend, yeah. We're playing a game where she tries to piss me off, but... Can I help you?

[dereban]

[ All he can hear outside of the ambient sounds is the sound of something being taken out and he'll hear a clicking sound of a gun having its safety unlocked. ]

[spacialeyes]

Inaba?

[That's enough to get him to turn around slightly and check on her. Yuuto is trying hard to trust her, at least not enough to remove the headphones, but he knows the sound of a gun all too well.]

[dereban]

[ He won't see any guns but immediately Inaba's grabbing onto the chair and turning it back around without saying a word, although there's a hint of frustration that he'll catch in her eyes for a flicker of a second. ]

[spacialeyes]

Auu- I-I'm sorry, right! F, focus..!

[And he closes his eyes tighter than before. Though now he's visibly tense. What was that sound just now..?]

[dereban]

[ There's a sound of a gun being shot.

There's no other sound for a bit, as if waiting in anticipation to see if he'll turn around again. ]

[spacialeyes]

[The sound of a gunshot coming over the ambient background she had put on is enough to make him jump. This time he lowers the headphones entirely before turning around. He's trying to remember that Inaba is testing him and that she's not stupid, but the pink light of his power chases the human gold from his eyes anyway.]

Inaba?!

[dereban]

... Ahh, how boring.

[spacialeyes]

[Yuuto's eyes flash as his power searches for any bullets that may have been fired. He looks to be a mix of confused and alarmed.]

... Are you okay? I thought I heard a gun?

[dereban]

[ There's none! ]

I'm fine.

[spacialeyes]

[Yuuto begins to relax again-- Or at least, he tries to look relaxed. His eyes are still glowing and he's panicking under the surface, but doing his best to appear calm.]

S, sorry. I guess... Thinking about it made me hear things, or something. Mm. [He quietly lifts the headphones again, debating if he should retreat into the ambient noise until he's calm enough to fake a proper smile.]

[dereban]

Oh, that's because you did hear a gun.

[ She takes out her phone and presses a button which causes another loud gunshot to ring. ]

[spacialeyes]

[It would be rude to put the headphones back on now, so Yuuto drops them around his neck again. He nods slowly and offers a soft laugh, trying to brush it off;]

... I don't get it. Am I supposed to be angry about your weird taste in ringtones, Inaba?

[dereban]

It's not my ringtone--! I was trying to build up this whole scenario, okay?!

[spacialeyes]

[... Well, at least some of his paranoia is turning into embarrassment now.]

I'm sorry. I was worried someone was going to hurt you. If anything happened to you, I'd be- [... huh. Angry?]

[dereban]

Finish that sentence?

[spacialeyes]

[He finishes it in his head and realizes that his answer might be right-but-wrong.]

... uhhhhhhhhh.

Are you going to get mad if I do?

[dereban]

Just finish it.

[spacialeyes]

If anything happened to you, I would be pretty angry at myself for letting you get hurt... I'd carry that with me forever.

[Something else clicks;] There was never anyone to acknowledge my emotions before, huh? Just me.

[dereban]

Okay, yeah, I am going to get fucking angry at you because getting angry at yourself is-- Ugh.

[spacialeyes]

I-I'm sorry! I know it's arrogant of me and kind of pathetic and stupid, but I can't help it. That's how I feel.

[He bows his head nervously.]