INBOX.

[threewishes]

"Hello, hello! You've reached Kanbaru Suruga, better known as Araragi's Rin's a certain someone's sex slave. My specialty move is the edge attack. It seems I'm not available right now, but if you would leave a message, I'll be sure to get back to you on my own time. Thanks!"

1473.
mail | text | audio | video | action | etc.

Comments

text; 12/26

[threewishes]

[ fortunately, kanbaru attempts to keep her mind open so as to the actual meaning of the gift. sure, admittedly, it is exceptionally easy to misinterpret— jewelry tends to be a gift for romantic partners, after all. she bites her lip and hides it away in a drawer for contemplation at later date. the ultimate benevolence of the gesture isn't lost on her.

but the message is most troubling to her. not wishing to perturb her underclassman's christmas festivities too much, she waits a day before replying. ]

"Grateful"? [ for her friendship and kindness, no less. kanbaru's fairly certain she's only caused rin pain, but she won't elaborate on that part, instead letting the question hang in the air. ] Haha, you're really an amazing person, Rin. And I don't mean that as my typical flattery, either. I'm really quite envious!

[ amazing. how could this girl be so optimistic, let alone so thankful? ]

Re: text; 12/26

[feeline]

[the timing of Kanbaru's text is impeccable. Rin's mood is slightly lifted after waking up with her arm returned to normal, the message with its compliments an extra sweetener. but the last part makes her pause before typing a response. "envious". after everything that happened with the Rainy Devil, Rin can sort of draw pieces to a hazy meaning deeper behind it. isn't that also something to be grateful for, even if the end result came at a horrible price? how does Kanbaru perceive herself, truly?]

you shouldn't be envious, because you're even more amazing!! ( •⌄• ) i hope u had a nice christmas, senpai!

[likewise, that's also sincere. she doesn't say it in the text, of course, but Rin can't accept Kanbaru's compliment. not after the lengths she went to to have her wish fulfilled.

it makes her stomach lurch thinking about it. she got what she wanted in the end, didn't she? but she doesn't deserve it.]

btw, my arm turned back to normal this morning

Re: text; 12/26

[threewishes]

[ ah... and both sincere compliments bounce off the recipient without reaching them. funny how that happens. if it were anyone but rin, kanbaru might doubt the intent behind such comments (i.e., meaningless flattery), but is rin, so she ends up smiling faintly down at her cellphone's screen. ]

I did! Though I didn't eat any fried chicken... People at Holly Heights really don't hold back on their gift-giving. (・∧‐)ゞ The contents of my mailbox were a pleasant surprise yesterday! I bet you got a bunch of amazing stuff too, huh?

[ a pause, as she blinks down at the second part of the message. it was gone? already? well, that did confirm a few suspicions of hers. —and she's relieved, really, despite her initial surprise. ]

Is that right? That's great to hear! Usually, it would take a few years for it to go away. [ and while she doesn't want to sound trivializing, she thinks it should be said: ] Ah, I think that confirms it to have been a nasty plot of the Landlord...

Re: text; 12/26

[feeline]

[Rin did get a bunch of stuff.... cat-themed stuff, mostly. she'd almost forgotten how contained the Rainy Devil incident really was before realizing just about all those gift senders probably had no idea what happened, or what Rin had done.]

i didn't think he'd do something so mean

[the landlord once gave everyone corgis, man.]

but it wouldn't feel right to blame it on him

Re: text; 12/26

[threewishes]

No, that's true. It wouldn't be right to do that.

[ straightforwardly. she would have enthusiastically blamed him, certainly, she should she had been in rin's position and much less knowledgeable about the situation. but she's changed since her possession; accepting it for what it is, she believes, is best.

she's happy that rin was the first to suggest it. ]

In any case, he's becoming quite the unpredictable individual, isn't he? I have to wonder if he's ever been made to face consequences for his actions. ... Or at least, experienced similar treatment.

Re: text; 12/26

[feeline]

[truthfully, the landlord is the last thing she wants to talk about. he does this, he does that, who knows what his motives are? maybe the Rainy Devil was actually a mistake on his part as well. as much as he is to blame for the paw to wind up on Rin's doorstep in the first place, talking about someone so... unpredictable and enigmatic feels pointless. as much as she enjoys a game of wild speculation, Rin doesn't feel up to it now.]

did you ever think about blaming the person who left you the monkey's paw?

Re: text; 12/26

[threewishes]

I did.

[ and this, perhaps, is one of the aspects of the arm that she's given the most thought to. it wouldn't be so much an issue if it didn't have any familial ties. ]

The thought was that if the arm hadn't been given to me in the first place, I wouldn't had wished upon it, right? Therefore, it's her fault. But that's a little narrow-minded of me. While I can't know for absolutely certain, I think my mother meant to teach me a lesson with it— the lesson being that I shouldn't rely on some mystical artifact, but rather rely on myself. Grant your own wishes, so to speak.

Re: text; 12/26

[feeline]

[that gets Rin to think— to actually think, which isn't something she often does. she hadn't meant to wish on the arm though, but even before then, Rin hadn't put much serious thought into the wish besides some vaguely sad feelings of yearning.

maybe she was just too scared to step any closer.]

that's a hard way to learn a lesson like that... but if that's true, then her intentions were still good, right? so maybe the landlord's intentions were good too, even if a lot of people ended up getting hurt.

am i overthinking it?

Re: text; 12/26

[threewishes]

Hm... [ well, considering kanbaru's mother's... nature, that wouldn't be an unfair generalization to the landlord. ] I suppose we can't know for certain in either case, but it is perfectly possible that the intentions were good, after all.

No, I don't believe you're overthinking (I shall definitely tell you when you're doing that, rest-assured!!). Though, I do wonder if Rin-chan optimistically learned a lesson in anything, beyond "be careful what you wish for".

Re: text; 12/26

[feeline]

[that one doesn't sound right, since Rin hadn't even meant to make a wish in the first place. but as far as learned lessons go...]

i think i should be more straightforward with how i feel?

[that's all she's got ¯\_(ツ)_/¯]

Re: text; 12/26

[threewishes]

Ah, yes. Though stinging at times, brutal honesty can have its merits.
Anyway, not to sound doting, but I hope you've been eating and sleeping well, Rin-chan. Make sure to get lots of rest! I already know you exercise well, so I won't mention that.

Re: text; 12/26

[feeline]

i think i get it now. i'll make sure to take care of myself too
thank you, senpai. i really mean it!

[no emoji = serious business, wow.]