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[ this is way less harmless than a punch to the face ]

Mm, yeah, try to consider my luck as well when you give me a prediction.

[ so let him hear it, ishimaru. LET HIM HEAR THAT HE'LL WIN THE JACKPOT ]

I hope you predict something good, haha.

[If he takes into account Makoto's luck, then predicting that he'll win at least something is the right way to go! But no, that's definitely not enough, to be the SHSL Clairvoyant, he must be able to get it right on the nose!

Okay, he'll think of a good prediction!]

I predict... that you'll win $50!! ...No, $50.85!!

[Maybe he should've gone higher so that Makoto can later pay for his medical bills.]

Haha, all right, I'll be right back!

[ well... $50 is $50 so naegi will run off to the store and grab a random scratch ticket. he'll back in a few minutes with a ticket in one hand and a coin in the other. he'll take a seat on the bench next to ishimaru and put the ticket on his lap. ]

Okay, moment of truth...

[ time to scratch the ticket! scratch scratch scratch and........... he won.... 50 cents??? ]

[At least by now, his bloody nose has stopped. Guess he recovers quickly! The ice probably had a big impact on keeping the swelling down too. This is good news though, because that means they can work on some of the more dangerous talents again!

IT'LL BE FINE. Probably.

Nonetheless, Ishimaru looks at the scratch ticket with anticipation, as his friend reveals the prize...

......]

50 CENTS?! I thought your luck was better than that!!

[Just throw some shade on his talent in the process.]

[ wow so this is how you treat naegi after he does all this for you... that's real nice, ishimaru. Naegi Will Remember This ]

H-Hey, it's not like I can choose my luck. It just... comes and goes.

[ it really goes sometimes... ]

Uh, you were... close, though? In a way...

I think 50 cents is far from fifty dollars, Makoto! It's not a mistake that you can claim when buying something!!

[So if he got that wrong, that probably means he's not the clairvoyant? Ngh, the list of talents is slowly diminishing... especially since he can try some of the talents on his own still. So, maybe fashionista?? Along with gang leader... and moral compass? Although he has no idea how to test something like that.]

We don't need to try baseball star. [Ishimaru is suddenly more serious, finally pulling the ice away from his nose as he looks down at the ground.]

[ unfortunately for naegi, he still hasn't gotten back the memory that leon has been executed... he knows a few of the murder victims but nothing about the murderers themselves ]

We don't?

[It's a memory that came back to him after he heard about Leon's death, but Ishimaru hasn't told anyone about it yet. Mostly because... it's awful. Even thinking about it makes his stomach turn. He may not know much about his past self, but he definitely doesn't envy his past self from witnessing something like that in person.]

...No, I know who the baseball star is, Leon Kuwata.

[It's definitely easy to tell that whatever memory he has with Leon, it is not a good one.]

[ although naegi knows nothing about leon, never once having a single memory of him, he can tell enough from ishimaru's sudden change in tone and demeanour that something... probably happened to this leon fellow. considering what kind of past they have, it's most likely for the best if he doesn't dig into it. if ishimaru wants to talk about it then he should have the freedom to speak about it whenever he wants. otherwise... naegi can just find out eventually on his own ]

... I see...

[ he will try to shift away from this line of conversation. no need to bring down the entire mood with this. he'll pull out his phone once more so they can look over the talents ]

... let's see what else we could do. Maybe we can try to figure out what Super High School Level Gang Leader means?

[Maybe he'll talk about Leon and his execution with everyone else someday. He knows that he shouldn't keep such a big memory from the others for long, especially since they've been supportive all this time. Ishimaru especially hates keeping things from Kaede, but it's been difficult to even bring up.

Nonetheless, a lot of that seriousness goes away when Naegi brings up talents again, replaced by that familiar determination.]

I think it's obvious! I'm in charge of a gang-- a motorcycle gang I think! [Ishimaru looks the furthest thing from a gang leader though...]

So I could try and boss a group of gang members around!!

[ there we go, back to ishimaru being determined and yelling. naegi prefers that over solemness though... he's really getting concerned by the direction this shsl talent searching stuff is going?! ]

That... sounds really dangerous. I think you might get more than just a punch to the face if you try to boss gang members around...!

...You're probably right about that!

[He doesn't know the first thing about leading others...! If he can't boss around regular students, he will have no luck with delinquents!]

But how are we going to test it otherwise? S-should I try and ride a motorcycle?! But that would be breaking the law, I don't have a license for it!

Um, well...

[ naegi tries to think. c'mon, naegi, hangman's gambit this thing!! hmmm.... piece the letters together... grab them one at a time... ]

Do you think just a regular bike will be okay? Maybe if you just go really fast like a motorcycle and start yelling things like a gang leader, it might be close enough?

[At least it's not Improved Hangman's Gambit...]

It couldn't hurt! Okay, we'll try your suggestion! [He definitely knows how to ride a bicycle at least! Although, he hasn't gone 'really fast like a motorcycle' before... but as long as he wears a helmet, it should still be safe!]

Or maybe I can slowly circle you around and yell threatening things at you?! Like, I'll tie you with a rope and drag you across the street!!

I-I think I oppose to the idea of dragging me across the street with a rope!

[ HE KNOWS HE GAVE OU A BLOODY NOSE, ISHIMARU, BUT HE WANTS TO LIVE ]

But why don't we try both? You can go super fast down a hill and also circle around me while threatening me? I'm okay with that...

Haha, don't worry, Makoto! I wouldn't do something like that!

[Did you ever doubt him.....]

Do have you a bicycle that I can borrow?

[ ⦻ doubt... ]

Mm, yeah, I do but... it's pretty old. I actually don't use it anymore because it's kind of broken so is that okay?

[ naegi has stopped riding it because he found it thrown out and it obviously didn't last him very long once he used it a couple of times ]

[That sounds so unsafe... but Ishimaru doesn't own a bicycle and he really doesn't want to go and buy one just for this. Guess he could always rent, but that also costs money. He needs to save what he can to help with his family's debt.

Of course, injuring himself while riding a bicycle would cost even more...]

Do you at least own a helmet?! I'll be willing to go on this old bicycle of yours if I can still practice good safety!! So the steering and brakes work too!

Yeah, I at least have a helmet...

[ naegi knows how his bad luck can be. he knows that it'd be suicide if he went out riding that rusted old thing without a helmet so he at least has that! but... ]

Ah, but you don't have to ride it if you don't want to! I think you got hurt enough for today.

[Even Ishimaru looks a little uncertain for a moment, but it disappears soon enough. They've come this far, he can't back down now. All of the time and effort Makoto put in, not to mention his own, would go to waste if he at least didn't try this once.]

No, let's do it. I'll be fine.

[He wants to remember his talent, even if it's gang leader. He's not sure how helpful something like that can be, but maybe he'd still know some fighting skills from that? Could be useful.]

... all right, if you insist.

[ naegi knows that if ishimaru is determined to do something, there's probably little that he can do to persuade him of any other idea. ]

Let's drop by my place then. I think it'll be faster if you just follow me home.

[ rather than naegi going to grab the bike and then coming back with it. plus, if anything happens... well, they're right by his place so ]

[As long as no one else gets hurt, he's definitely a bit more willing to do something so reckless.]

Lead the way! I'll follow close behind!

[Come Naegi, march Ishimaru to his inevitable demise.]

[ i can't believe that kiyotaka ishimaru is going to die once again. history repeats itself... but off they go to naegi's place! fastforward to standing outside the building and naegi grabbing the dinky old bicycle. it has... definitely seen better days. there's a dent here and there and the brakes aren't that great... one could absolutely see why this was thrown away but hey, at least it has two wheels and it's good enough for its purpose?? ]

Here it is. Sorry that it's kind of dirty...

[ naegi hasn't touched it for a while... with one hand on the bike, he holds out his other hand which is the helmet ]

If you adjust the straps, this should fit you.

[That bike is so sketchy. It's probably a good thing that Ishimaru doesn't know that Naegi found this bicycle in the trash, because he probably would be even uncertain than he already is.]

It'll do...! I'm not expecting much from a bike that you've described as old and rarely used!

[He's not wearing his nice suit, so it's fine! He begins to put his helmet on, which might be enough to save his life this time.]

So, I'll go down this hill and shout 'I'm a gang leader!!' I think that will suffice!

[ hahaha... would naegi ever tell ishimaru that he got this bike in the trash... maybe it's for the best if he says nothing... ]

Yeah, I think that should be good enough. Good luck, Kiyotaka. I'll watch from up here.

[ since standing at the bottom sounds like a disaster... what if they crash ]

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