synopsychic | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

[A couple days into Liminal Space, but before it changes, Naoki puts out a message. He sounds... tired, but satisfied.]

I've worked out something that will counteract the radiation exposure most of us just got. There's some in the workshop and some in Kanji's place - there should be enough for everyone who was on Gehenna.

Please, guys, take a bottle. I don't care how invincible you think you are, I don't care how much you might think I hate you, I don't care how bad you think it tastes - I did the best I could, but it's still pretty clearly medicine. Radiation is serious business, and none of us deserve to be stuck with the long-term effects if there's a way around it. If it turns out you absolutely cannot get it down for some reason, let me know and I'll try another version.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

...Yeah, I can see that one happening. [Kanji probably would've pushed pretty hard to get a kid out of trouble, if it'd come to that for their group. Even if they weren't particularly close, the TV world can't do good things to someone that young.]

Souji-san tried running into Naoto's dungeon here by himself. Fortunately, all he managed to do was find out nothing useful and come back to meet the bigger group of us that went in.

[Mental sigh.]

That makes much more sense now than it would have yesterday. Still not surprising. He tries to be the calm, reasonable guy, but when he thinks it'll help someone he loves, he can be dumb as a brick.

They hadn't mentioned? Really, do neither of them talk about things? [That could be the dungeon, or Souji and Naoto's relationship... but it's probably both.] You won't catch me arguing that point, at least.

He tries, though. I mean, he clearly put in some effort to get to know me, and I can only imagine how badly I was doing without something to focus on. Probably dismissed him out of hand because of Hanamura, somewhere in there. I can't not give him some credit for that.

Edited 2016-03-04 18:12 (UTC)

They really don't. Souji's just...this weird mix of taking care of everyone else before himself and then never talking about what he's feeling, either. It makes him a wonderful person, but kinda hard to understand sometimes. Naoto-kun's almost the same, just with "find out everything" more than "protect everyone".

No wonder they get along so well. [He's actually pretty sure there's more to it than that. But if they communicate the same way, that would certainly help matters.]

They've got a lot in common, honestly. "Huge dorks who don't talk about their feelings" is just part of it.

[Is she mentally pouting? Yeah she's mentally pouting.]

They do work well together.

[Look at it this way, Rise, sooner or later you'd get fed up with Souji never discussing things.]

[If you think Rise isn't the kind of woman who'd spend her entire adult life trying to pester her loved ones into changing their habits you clearly haven't spent enough time with her.]

Well at least they make the most attractive detective couple in history. Or at least the most attractive one that doesn't involve Jude Law.

[No, he's seen her go toe to toe with Kanji often enough to know better.]

Wouldn't have thought you'd be interested in him. Unless it's Naoto you were gunning for. [Now that wouldn't surprise him at all.]

Uh, what? No way. She's my best friend. I can think a woman's beautiful without being attracted to women, you know.

...not that her boy form is bad-looking either but the point is I've been in love with Senpai since right after my dungeon, okay?

[She could private this, but it's not like it's a secret.]

You certainly didn't have that reaction to Kanji. And why would the attraction be a problem, in general terms? [Look, he's just saying. He also helped Kanji figure a lot of this out, even if he did end up with a girlfriend in the end.]

There's nothing wrong with it, I'm just attracted to guys.

[Or at least to masculine presentation.]

And Kanji's...Kanji. Yours seems more sensible than mine, but he's still...Kanji.

[You keep telling yourself that, Rise.]

True.

Anyway, I'm almost there. If you want to hear details for some strange reason we can talk after I'm de-radiationed.

Not details as such. I'm just lacking the context for you and Souji-san interacting. Then it might make more sense.

Well...

[In-person, a couple minutes later after the chugging of alchemical concoctions:]

...I'm not sure if your Kanji does this too, but did you ever notice how Souji-senpai can act like a completely different guy depending on the situation?

...I think I have seen that some here. Narukami-san wasn't really part of the group at home - Kanji knew him through the basketball team, but that was about it - so I don't know him as well in that sense.

Yeah well, putting aside the fact that he's a ridiculously good-looking guy for a minute, that was kinda the big thing. I mean, all of us had to deal with being more than one person, but between his traveling around and always having to make new friends and his just...adapting to everything, I felt like we had a lot in common. Someone who can be anyone he wants seems really, really appealing when you're in the middle of not knowing who you are, y'know?

[Rise kinda needs to get this rant out. Naoki doesn't seem to have any preconceptions, so he's managed to volunteer himself. If he ever wants to open up a bar in the family story later on in life, he can consider this practice.]

[...He's actually considering it. The old bike shop's sitting there doing nothing, after all, and it'd be a good way to get people to try the stuff they have that Junes doesn't. And at this point it wouldn't even be his first bar.]

I can see it. You're used to needing to wear different faces, and talking to someone who gets it on a deeper level is something you probably really needed in the middle of all that burnout.

Edited 2016-03-04 21:15 (UTC)

Exactly. Senpai understood me on a level no one else did, just like...instinctively. And he really understood, too. No matter how much time I spent ranting or complaining or just finding excuses to spend time with him, he was always there with whatever kind of support I needed. Of course I fell in love with him.

Edited 2016-03-04 21:18 (UTC)

But then he wasn't interested. [Clearly, or he would've dated her already.]

It was... good having Kanji to lean on. I mean, we grew up across the street from each other. When it really started sinking in that Sis was gone I didn't have to explain as much.

[Sighing physically now. That's better.]

Nope. I was still giving it a shot before I came here, but if he's dating Naoto, I'm not gonna mess with that. Not in a million years.

And Kanji's good at just being there and grounding people. Forcibly if he's gotta. That's why I thought he'd be good for Naoto, even, but that's not what happened.

[Naoki shrugs.] From our perspective, I think Yukiko asked first, and that was that. It certainly wasn't a lack of interest, but... he was happy.

That's how he rolls, though. After Satonaka horned in on things he sat down and figured out some ground rules for the dungeon stuff. He's a better listener than a lot of people give him credit for, and he's good at cutting through crap to get to the heart of the matter.

[Rise nods.]

Yeah, I gotta admit, no one takes a problem down to the basics like Kanji. Even mine does it that way. He--

--wait, Yukiko-senpai? Really?

[She blinks.]

That's...actually not all that surprising. He's definitely a Yukiko fan, and they've known each other as long as you two have.

I am surprised she asked, though.

[She thinks for another second.]

Wait...between here and your world, am I the last girl on the team without a boyfriend...?

[Well, Yukiko is the most feminine girl Kanji's ever seemed to think of as attractive.]

...I don't know. That'd probably depend on whether Satonaka ever hooked up with anyone - Ichijo-san, most likely, but that'd require him to say so.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

Action, now

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject