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[savetheweak]

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[savetheweak]

What would someone even do with 800 friends? Meeting three people a day for twenty minutes at a time doesn't make you friends with those people, does it?

Wouldn't a handful of meaningful friendships matter more than knowing the names of a few hundred people?

I'm not even sure I could do that.

[proposed]

[ Don't mind him, he's bored and wants to make outlandish plans and wax philosophical. ]

You can't find a few close friends through meeting a few people. In fact, even if you interacted with hundreds, the chance of forming a connection is marginal.

Even if you can form a connection, the chances of it lasting for more than a few weeks is marginal, and the chances of maintaining it rapidly declines the more time you add to it. There's too many factors working against people. They're drawn to each other and forge bonds and show kindness, but they'll always forget the past, and they'll hurt and betray each other.

The more people you meet, the better your chances of finding something that's both genuine and lasting.

You raise a good point. You'd forget people's names as soon as the conversation ended... Would that make it a good way of judging who left an impression?

[savetheweak]

Statistically, I guess you're not wrong, but I still feel like there's more to it than that. I don't really want to believe that something like that is only a numbers game...

Anyway. Recalling a name from a list of eight hundred might have as much to do with the way its spelled as it does an impression of the person.

[This is what they do. Odasaku will discuss every hypothetical thought experiment that Dazai presents. He enjoys it. He's a hard person to be close-minded around.]

[proposed]

I wouldn't say that it's a numbers game. It's a gamble where you're trying to increase your odds of reaching your desired outcome.

You don't think it matters?

[ He'll let Oda decide which part he's referring to. ]

[savetheweak]

I guess what I'm thinking is...

If someone wanted to be my friend, I wouldn't exactly want it to be because they were trying to reach a certain quota.

Humans connect with each other for all sorts of reasons. Isn't it more authentic to have it happen naturally?

I don't need a lot of friends. Just one or two I like.

i am feeling attacked by that icon

[proposed]

[ . . . ]

If people depended on authenticity alone, then all the tools we have at our disposal to help meet people would be worthless! Social media and dating apps would collapse in on themselves and our fragile society would follow.

You're trying to cause the world to descend into chaos, Odasaku.

[savetheweak]

I really know nothing about that stuff...

[Dating apps? Social media? Oda Sakunosuke? Be so serious.]

[proposed]

[ He's deliberately exaggerating, but there's always a reason to Dazai's madness and this is no exception. Dazai had a support system both in the Port Mafia and in the Agency; he's building up a foundation here, too. If it's not the same care he had in the past, there's still fondness and enjoyment in it.

It's not the same for Odasaku. One became two, two became three; then somewhere in all of that came five orphans and a restaurant owner. It had all collapsed in on itself, but he thinks that Odasaku was happier then than he was before.

So, he needs to rebuild his foundation too. So, they loop back around to where they started, ]

Eight.

[savetheweak]

[Dazai isn't wrong at all. And Oda has no idea.]

I can agree to that.

[proposed]

Have you talked to BB-san yet?

What about Akutagawa-kun? He's a handful, but I think you can handle him.

[savetheweak]

Haha. I'm talking to her right now, actually. That text you sent really got the conversation going.

As for Akutagawa-kun, I don't dislike him, but I'm not sure I'd consider us friends. You think he'd event want to be? No offense to him, but he doesn't really seem the type.

[Anyway, that's his son. He's "Ryuu" the six-year-old for the rest of all time.]

[proposed]

I thought it would. You'll get along well. BB-san is an honest person, so you can rely on her. She wants to be close to people.

He's not, but I'm not giving him a choice in the matter. In fact, you're the best possible person to pair him up with.

[ Because Akutagawa needs someone who can handle him, and Odasaku needs people to take care of, to say nothing of what a dangerous combat unit they would be, and because Odasaku is someone who makes people want to be more than they are.

He's thought about this. ]

[savetheweak]

[Oda thinks better than to talk about his time with Akutagawa when he was just a kid. He knows that he and Dazai have a tenuous relationship at best, and furthermore, Akutagawa asked him to forget about it. Still, it's because of that time that he agrees with Dazai. He has no objection to getting closer to someone he's come to care for as much as he does Akutagawa.]

I'm not going to force him into anything, but it sounds like you might. Maybe he won't mind.

[proposed]

Nope, I won't let him refuse. He may not be under my direct command anymore, but I still have to offer him guidance from time to time.

You can trust me on this.

[savetheweak]

Alright, then. Like I said. I don't dislike him. Who am I to argue, really?

[proposed]

Good! It's settled then. I can always count on you, Odasaku.

Have you met Akechi-kun yet? What do you make of him?

[savetheweak]

I did meet Akechi, but he was just a kid at the time. I'm sure that's probably not how he wants me to remember him. Considering you sent him that text the other day, we've been talking. He seems smart. I can tell that much.

dazai really just gossiping with bestie about all his cr

[proposed]

I doubt it, though not much has changed since then. Akechi-kun is almost exactly the same as Akutagawa-kun at his core, but there's a fundamental difference between the two of them.

I love it so much

[savetheweak]

[Huh...?]

Like Akutagawa-kun? How do you figure that? The difference too.

[proposed]

[ He wouldn't be honest about this with anyone else, but... ]

Akechi-kun is fueled by emotion rather than logic. He sees the world in binaries. There's the strong and the weak, and there's winners and losers. In his case, he wants to see life as a game of chess or go, but he's not capable of learning the rules, much less playing it better than anyone else.

He has potential though. If he could develop even a hint of sense and awareness of the world around him, and if he could overcome whatever hurt and anger has possessed him, then he could be dangerous. As it is, his talent is squandered. It's atrophying as we speak.

I'm sure you'll see the difference between the pair of them when you meet him again. It's quite simple, after all.

Akutagawa-kun wants to live. Akechi-kun wants to die. In that regard, I'm sure both will have their wishes granted.

[savetheweak]

[He's certainly not expecting all that...]

You seem to know this kid better than I thought. That's an awfully in depth assessment. You really picked him apart.

I'll have to keep an eye out, I guess. He definitely doesn't appear that way on the surface.

[He was a sweet kid. Possessed by anger and hurt? Oda resents that. He'd like to think Dazai's wrong, but he isn't often, and he clearly has some reason for saying so.]

[proposed]

[ VILLON is typing...

...

VILLON is typing...

VILLON is typing... ]

You're right. I said too much.

He has people to take care of him, so it's none of my business.

[savetheweak]

?

You didn't say too much. I don't feel that way. You can tell me whatever you think. I respect your opinion, so I'd like to know.

It lets me know to be cautious. That's all. I'll give the kid his own chance to make an impression regardless.

[proposed]

I don't know if I'd say he warrants caution. He's too undisciplined for that.

He just reminds me a bit of someone. That's all.

[ Which is probably why Dazai's struggling to speak his thoughts now. ]

[savetheweak]

Someone other than Akutagawa, you mean?