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Post by Souji Seta on Apr 14, 2009 11:32:28 GMT -5
(Tag for Yosuke)
Souji awoke that morning with the irritating but familiar aches of a job well done. He and his friends had successfully dispatched, not one, but two Shadows two days prior. One right after the other. They were all feeling the aches and pains of battle (including Teddie and their newfound accomplice, Rise Kujikawa). It was Monday, however, and their day to recuperate had come and gone. With a quiet groan, he rolled out of bed and arched his back, wincing at the audible crack that resulted.
There was the sound of someone calling him from downstairs, urging him to come down to breakfast before they left for school; Nanako. Pulling on his uniform (which he'd had a chance to wash, at the very least -- blood stains tended to be frowned upon in the Yasogami dress code) and taking a moment to run a comb through his hair -- it was sticking up at an odd angle in the back, but he let it go for now -- joined Nanako downstairs for a hasty breakfast.
After leaving Nanako at the turn off with a hug, Souji continued on quietly towards his own school. The silence gave his mind the opportunity to wander, which was never a very good thing these days. With so many responsibilities mounting upon him, you would think his brain would take the quiet moments to reflect on something nice and calming. Like the scenery. Or a flock of birds. Or anything but his best friend.
But his brain was not kind. His brain was cruel. So cruel that the only thing on Souji's mind was what Yosuke was doing at that moment and simultaneously wishing that he'd run into him so they could walk together or that he could avoid him until he was through with the daily struggle to Get Your Stupid Gay-Ass Feelings Under Control, Seta, Jeez.
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Post by Yosuke Hanamura on Apr 14, 2009 16:33:25 GMT -5
Yosuke's mother had to practically drag her son out of bed that morning, telling him he'd be late and to remember his lunch and imploring him to shower quickly before leaving. Grumbling, he got up and shuffled to the bathroom, rubbing his eyes through most of the shower.
When Yosuke finally made it downstairs, Mrs. Hanamura presented him with his bag, his lunch, and his breakfast. She shoo'd him out the door as soon as his shoes were on, not wanting him to be too late.
Jeez, either I'm not that late, or he's late, Yosuke thought with a smile on his way to school. He'd decided to take his bike so King Moron wouldn't eat him alive, and he'd ended up finding Souji on the path to school. "Hey, partner! Morning," he said with a smile, slowing down as he neared his friend.
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Post by Souji Seta on Apr 14, 2009 16:44:17 GMT -5
The GYSGAFUCSJ process had yet to be worked through completely when Souji heard an all-too-familiar squeaking sound coming up from behind him. He tried to pretend he hadn't noticed, but eventually curiosity got the better of him and he turned around just in time to see Yosuke beam at him cheerfully. Souji returned the smile weakly and waved, immediately regretting even coming to school today.
"Morning, man. You're out early," he glanced at his wristwatch, "Well, you're out on time. Which is early for you, I suppose."
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Post by Yosuke Hanamura on Apr 14, 2009 17:01:34 GMT -5
Yosuke laughed and slowed to a stop next to Souji. "Hop on, I'll give you a ride. You gotta still be tired from Saturday." Souji always seemed to be the one that got slapped around the most, and they'd gotten a double whammy this time. Everyone was probably tired and sore as hell today.
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Post by Souji Seta on Apr 14, 2009 17:14:40 GMT -5
Souji nodded gratefully, moving closer and sliding onto the bike in a smooth, practiced motion. The soles of his shoes pressed firmly against the pegs of Yosuke's back wheels while he secured himself by placing his hands on his best friends shoulders. This wasn't awkward at all, he was pleased to note, wobbling slightly as Yosuke started to peddle. For one, he didn't have to look in Yosuke's face as they talked. Secondly, he wasn't even sure if Yosuke was really listening to him, if the faint sound of music coming from the headphones that hung around his neck were anything to go by.
"Thanks, I was kinda hoping you'd have your bike with you," he smiled, his grip on Yosuke tightening as the other boy swerved to avoid a tiny pebble, nearly running into a much larger rock in the process. "You seem on the ball today," he remarked dryly, heart still pounding from the frenzied steering.
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Post by Yosuke Hanamura on Apr 14, 2009 17:59:19 GMT -5
"Shut up, man." Any threat was negated by the obvious laughter in Yosuke's voice. He was too tired and sore to steer perfectly. And to be honest, he'd wanted to make this a relaxing, bump-free ride for Souji. Saving Rise had taken a lot out of all of them, especially their leader.
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Post by Souji Seta on Apr 14, 2009 18:22:44 GMT -5
Grinning, Souji allowed himself a few chuckles at Yosuke's expense as well -- it was obvious he meant well and that alone was enough to make the warm, odd, comfortable, and yet entirely unwelcome sensation begin in the pit of his stomach. Drumming his fingers anxiously over Yosuke's shoulders, he waited for the feeling to pass before speaking again.
"Oh hey, before I forget," he piped up, voice a little softer than before, "I made some dumplings last night -- wanna share? I let them boil too long so they're a little on the soggy side, but I tried one and they're alright."
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Post by Yosuke Hanamura on Apr 14, 2009 23:24:08 GMT -5
"Sure." Souji couldn't see it, but the smile on Yosuke's face carried over to his voice as well. Souji was a great cook, so something even a little off had to be good.
The school came into view soon, and Yosuke almost hit something when he noticed the girl in their class that sat by the window was heading into the building just ahead of them. He didn't have the guts to talk to her though, so he settled for small talk with Souji.
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Post by Souji Seta on Apr 14, 2009 23:34:54 GMT -5
"Cool, so--woah!" Souji's grip tightened once again as he lurched forward, face pressing square against the back of Yosuke's neck. The sudden feel of his best friend's salty, sweaty skin against his lips made him jolt backwards, losing his balance and teetering backwards off the pegs and--
"Ow..."
--onto the paved stretch of road right outside the school gates.
"Shit," Souji mumbled, rubbing his side gingerly, "That was smooth."
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Post by Yosuke Hanamura on Apr 14, 2009 23:51:35 GMT -5
Yosuke got off the bike quickly and helped Souji up, convinced it was his fault his friend had fallen. "Sorry, man. You alright?" He really should be paying more attention to where he was going...
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Post by Souji Seta on Apr 15, 2009 10:41:45 GMT -5
Souji took his hand gratefully, rising to his feet with a soft grunt of exertion. It was only now that their hands were clasped did Souji realize his palms were sweating; the slick, embarrassing sensation prompting him to jerk his hand away immediately.
"Thanks," he mumbled, an awkward laugh on his voice, "I'm fine, just lost my balance for a second there. What brought on the fancy footwork? Or wheelwork, I guess."
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Post by Yosuke Hanamura on Apr 15, 2009 20:42:06 GMT -5
Yosuke blushed a little, embarassed at being caught. "Just spaced out. My bad," he apologized, turning back to his bike to hide his face. It was just a stupid crush, and they didn't have time for that sort of thing right now.
As he picked up his bike, the girl walked by and tried to hide her giggles. Yosuke wanted to die of embarassment.
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Post by Souji Seta on Apr 15, 2009 20:50:54 GMT -5
Souji glanced up at the girl who had passed, recognizing her vaguely; Aya...something or other. She was looking at Yosuke, who was looking anywhere but at her. The tenseness in his shoulders held an air of familiarity to them that made Souji's heart twinge sadly. He often looked the same after Yosuke caught him making a fool of himself.
Heaving a sigh, he forgot that Yosuke had said anything to him, focusing instead on brushing imaginary dust off his uniform. Now that the bike ride was over, the awkwardness was setting in again. Souji privately wondered if Yosuke could feel it as strongly as he could...or if he even could feel it at all.
"Should probably get to class, huh?" he smiled, mask back in place. If on the off chance Yosuke did feel the tenseness emanating from Souji, he didn't want to help him reach any embarrassing conclusions by acting all mopey.
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Post by Kanji Tatsumi on Apr 16, 2009 11:31:29 GMT -5
The sun was bright and warm on his bare arms, and Kanji smiled slightly to himself as he approached the gates of the school. It was an odd feeling for him; normally he'd be full of feelings of frustration and annoyance at actually attending school, but recently life had taken a turn for the better. What with the whole being kidnapped and having his life saved, he was feeling happy and content with being alive. It was a strange sensation.
On top of that, he had helped the rest of the team save Rise and proved that he wasn't as useless as people percieved him to be. And now it was monday morning, a new week was starting and he was filled with an urge to find the guy that had helped save his life and also made him see what he truly was and how to deal with it, and say thank you to him.
And that was how he found himself presently, waiting at the entrance of Yasogami High, leaning relaxedly against the metal of the gate, one hand in his jean pocket, the other holding his black shirt over his shoulder, letting the warm morning sunshine bathe his being. He felt really good right now.
Amongst the several voices littering the area, he picked out his target's voice as it approached, much faster than he expected, and he squinted through the sunlight to see Souji approaching on the back of Yosuke. "What the..." he thought to himself, stepping forwards slightly. Before he could decipher the image in front of him, there was a skidding of wheels and gravel scattered about the ground, and then Souji's image was gone, replaced by a shocked looking Yosuke. Kanji moved towards the casualty, wanting to rush to Souji's aid and help him up, but the presence of the other boy, who was much more closer to Souji made him think twice about showing his feelings to Souji.
"Where the hell d'you learn to ride like that?" Kanji asked without greeting the two, avoiding making eye contact with Yosuke. "You ok, senpai?"
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Post by Yosuke Hanamura on Apr 16, 2009 12:23:13 GMT -5
Yosuke was about to tell Souji that yeah, they probably should be getting there before King Moron pitched a bitch fit when Kanji showed up. He was still a little intimidated by the tall first year, but that didn't stop him from giving him shit when the opportunity arose.
"BMX crashes," the brunet joked when Kanji asked him where'd he'd learned. "The chain's probably messed up. I'll go get it checked later." Anything to not admit that he'd been thinking about a girl and spacing out.
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Post by Souji Seta on Apr 16, 2009 13:17:30 GMT -5
Souji jumped at the sound of Kanji's gruff voice, not noticing the first year's presence until he was right behind him. Craning his neck over his shoulder, his surprised expression melted away into a grateful smile. Thank God. Someone else was here to distract him. Raising his hand in greeting, he only chuckled softly at the concern being pushed his way.
"I'm fine, man," Souji smiled, voice kind and reassuring despite lingering with laughter after Yosuke's remark. "How about you? Saturday was pretty brutal. I'm still feeling it right..." The boy reached back, rubbing the spot between his shoulder blades gingerly and barely hiding a wince, "...here."
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Post by Kanji Tatsumi on Apr 16, 2009 18:57:28 GMT -5
"Oh yeah, right," Kanji replied blankly to Yosuke. "The chain. Gotta be careful about those."
He wondered if it showed just how little he knew about chains, or bikes, or anything that guys normally knew stuff about. If Yosuke had popped a button on a shirt, or needed a zip replacing, he'd have been able to give him endless amounts of advice, but all that normal guy stuff? Nope, nothing there.
"I'm still feeling achey as hell from the weekend," he looked at Souji, his voice catching his thoughts before they wandered away. "But, at least we saved the girl, right? That's what matters!"
He smiled, letting the proud feeling of accomplishment flow through his body again. The three of them had been through a lot, but Kanji only felt like he could relate to one of the guys there. There was just something that prevented from seeing things eye to eye with Yosuke. The remarks in the tent on the camping trip hadn't helped, but it was something that he'd felt before that. A sort of jealous feeling; he wanted to share a bond with Souji too, but there wasn't place for him as well as Yosuke.
"Oh yeah, I was wondering if I could talk to you sometime, leader?" he asked plainly. "There's some... stuff on my mind and I thought'd you'd be able to help me with it."
He glanced quickly at Yosuke. "Probably ain't your thing, dude."
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Post by Yosuke Hanamura on Apr 16, 2009 22:49:48 GMT -5
Yosuke inspected his bike while Kanji and Souji talked, making sure nothing was too damaged. And, by some miracle, (if you'd call it that) his bike chain really was messed up. At least he'd have a legitimate excuse for why he'd almost killed Souji.
"What? Oh, yeah, no. Whatever you guys wanna do. I gotta go get this fixed today and get to work after school." Yosuke gave them a strained smile, feeling a little awkward around Kanji. Was he really... like that? Not that he had any say with Souji hung out with, but shouldn't a guy be more cautious around someone like Kanji?
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Post by Souji Seta on Apr 17, 2009 7:14:28 GMT -5
"Right, that's what matters," Souji echoed, his small smile still dancing across his face while he brushed his heavy bangs out of his eyes. "We all deserve a break after that...whatever that was." He had finished up lamely, but the sentiment was the same and he flashed both boys his best, most reassuring, Leader-esque grin.
The comfortable silence that followed quickly dipped into awkwardness while he and Kanji stood quiet and the tinny, metallic sounds of Yosuke fiddling with his bike cut through the sounds of early morning birds. If anything, that noise only made the sudden halt in the conversation more noticeable. Souji thought about suggesting they all go to class again when Kanji spoke up. Help him with?, Souji repeated to himself mentally, puzzling over the curious statement and the not-so-curious addendum directed at Yosuke. The two boys were friends but Yosuke's insistence on teasing everything that drifted into his 'Amuse Me' radar made for a lot of fights. While Yosuke was his best friend and constant confidant (and maybe...nah, shut up), he had to admit there were times when the auburn headed teenager deserved the punches Kanji so often threatened him with.
"Of course," Souji replied nonchalantly, once again moving the troublesome bangs from his eyes. Once Yosuke spoke however, his smile fell somewhat. He'd been hoping to invite him over after school to hang out, talk, maybe play video games...anything, really. The fact that he felt so disappointed only frustrated him, prompting him to turn to Kanji and provide an overeager suggestion, "Why not today? I've got no plans. Whatsoever."
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Post by Kanji Tatsumi on Apr 17, 2009 13:03:45 GMT -5
Kanji hoped the slight red blush that had covered his cheeks hadn't been noticed by the other two guys, and by the subsequent lack of teasing from Yosuke, he assumed they hadn't. Asking his senpai to talk about this his crazy mind was one thing, but actually talking about it later was another. The silence before Souji answered seemed a long time, but the enthusiasm in his voice was worth the wait.
"You sure?" Kanji questioned, not wanting to put Souji out. "I know you two do stuff most nights, so anytime you have free is great."
He tried to smile in a way that showed his appreciation, but he was more than certain that he just looked like he was grimacing. Smiling, emotions, being happy, it was all still so new and unfamiliar.
"What about lunchtime?" he continued. "If you aren't doing nothin', meet my on the roof, yeah?"
Kanji looked back over to Yosuke, feeling like he had purposely pushed the other boy out of the conversation here. Now was as good a time as any to try and make things easier with the mouthy kid.
"You ok there," he called over awkwardly. "Anything I can help you with?"
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Post by Yosuke Hanamura on Apr 17, 2009 17:07:06 GMT -5
Yosuke had been busy trying to get the chain into some semblence of working order to get it the rest of the way to school, and hopefully to the bike shop later. He'd have to wash grease off his hands when they got into the building, but he managed to get it some-what fixed by the time Kanji spoke to him again.
"Huh? Oh, no man. I got it. 'S not like you know much about bikes anyway, right?" he teased with a playful wink. Anything to needle one of his friends. He'd learned not to do that with people who weren't his friend, though he wasn't sure where he stood with Kanji. And Yosuke might have been older, but Kanji was bigger and tougher. He might still get his ass kicked.
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Post by Souji Seta on Apr 17, 2009 19:06:45 GMT -5
"Lunchtime?" Souji repeated, glancing back at Yosuke. They'd made plans, yes, but...well, since when were plans with his friend unbreakable? Especially if another friend needed him. He may have made those dumplings for Yosuke, but--wait, no, not for Yosuke. For himself. Yosuke just happened to run into him first, that's all.
You're not fooling anyone, you know. Souji grimaced. It wasn't even a persona this time -- that was all him.
Souji looked away from his best friend, letting out a strange sigh before offering Kanji a small smile, "Lunch sounds perfect. I hope you're hungry, I have a ton of food to share." He craned his neck, looking back at his friend, "You don't mind, do you, man?"
Oh, please mind, please mind. All him again. Damnit.
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Post by Kanji Tatsumi on Apr 18, 2009 12:02:49 GMT -5
Half expecting a remark with that tone of voice from Yosuke, Kanji was already tensed and ready to pounce forwards into his usual dominating stance; back straight, chest out, arms pumped and fists raging, but this time he managed to resist it. Perhaps he understood the playfulness in Yosuke's voice, or maybe he was just still tired from the weekend's missions, but he stayed stood as he was.
"Not really," he answered. "Perhaps you could give me some lessons on being a man someday, senpai?"
He smiled, wanting but not attempting a cheeky wink back at Yosuke. One step at a time. He turned back to Souji.
"Hungry? Dude, I'm always hungry!" he exclaimed excitedly.
Was this what having real friends was like? Feeling at ease and content, and being excited about the smallest little things, like sharing some food? Whatever this was, Kanji was enjoying it, and glad to be here.
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Post by Yosuke Hanamura on Apr 18, 2009 20:28:55 GMT -5
Kanji's reply made Yosuke laugh as he stood up. He was glad Kanji was loosening up and getting to be something like their friend and not just an ally. Giving someone shit meant Yosuke actually liked them, anyway.
"Yeah, sure. And you can teach me how to sew."
Souji's input made his smile fade a little though. He always looked forward to the other boy's cooking, but he did have his own lunch, so it wasn't a big deal. "I like your cooking, man, but maybe I should let someone else get to try it. 'S cool, I got lunch covered."
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Post by Kanji Tatsumi on Apr 19, 2009 11:07:29 GMT -5
"You don't have the skills to sew, man!" Kanji threw back, letting his shoulders and stance relax as he talked with the two other guys. "It takes self control and dedication. Patience and a good eye for detail. You'd suck at it."
He felt himself feeling more and more at ease with the two of them as he spoke, and a true smile crossed his face.
"How about you, senpai?" he looked at Souji. "You reckon you'd be able to match my skills?"
Kanji looked up at the bright blue morning sky, and stretched his arms into the air, groaning as he forced out any tiredness still in his muscles.
"So, I'll see you guys at lunch?" he asked, hoping to spend more quality time with both of them.
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Post by Souji Seta on Apr 27, 2009 7:07:53 GMT -5
Souji glanced over at Yosuke, running his tongue over his bottom lip in a quick, disappointed gesture. He should've seen that coming. Letting his gaze linger over his friend's frame for a minute, Souji promptly looked away and chastised himself for it. He was being so creepy. If Yosuke found out, he would punch him in the face. And that would be going easy on him.
"That's awfully generous of you," Souji nodded, forcing a grin before looking back at Kanji abruptly, "And I doubt it. My fingers aren't built for anything but holding a sword." As if to prove a point, he held up his hands on either side of his face and wiggled his long, slim digits demonstratively. "They're like spider legs. Can't stand 'em."
Shrugging his briefcase over his shoulder, Souji shot Kanji an easy smile, "See you at lunch, man."
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Post by Yosuke Hanamura on Apr 29, 2009 21:19:01 GMT -5
"I bet I could do it! If I can play guitar I should be able to sew." Yosuke faked a scowl at his underclassman, though Kanji was probably right. He just did not have the attention span for that. "And yeah, we'll see you at lunch. On the roof, okay?"
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