To say Kanji wasn't a morning person was a bit of an understatement. Give him an hour past waking and he would be the most genial person you could ever come across, with his own charms at least, but try any interaction even a minute beforehand and you would only be asking for trouble. Chie was better yet worse; some days she would be bombing out of the house with a smile on her face within ten minutes of completing her slumber, but on others, looking her the wrong way before noon would entitle you to a swift and painful punishment. Unfortunately for everyone around her, this was one of those days, but Tensei Takenowa wasn't someone she could consider giving a piece of her mind to for even a second.
He'd rapped fiercely on their doors, throwing them open without waiting for a response, telling his security in turn that they would be needed in the meeting room immediately, leaving promptly thereafter. Kanji had considered telling him to get bent, but held his groggy tongue, and afterwards regretted that he didn't when he saw the time on his alarm- 5AM.
Both dressed, the security guards met in the hallway, not even with enough time for a greeting, and began to walk to their appointment. "Aaargh, who the hell does he think he is?" Kanji groaned, rubbing his eye furiously.
"I dunno," Chie yawned, eyes mostly closed, "I wonder what's up…"
Kanji's head snapped sideways. "Wait, you think something's up?"
"Probably. We're Mitsuru's security after all." She began constructing an elaborate fight scene in her head, of her and her partner fighting off hundreds of assassins approaching their cowering boss, and suddenly felt much more awake. "And we'll take care of business, right?"
Even Kanji could tell she was off in her usual dream world, but her enthusiasm was admittedly infectious. "Right," he nodded, cracking his knuckles as they stepped into the meeting room. There, Tensei sat waiting for them, opposite two empty chairs in front of two identical-looking documents.
"I'll be brief," estate manager began, not even waiting for the security team to sit, "It seems one of our smaller competitors has entered a bit of a freefall in value. Some of their less than legal endeavours will be coming to light in this morning's papers."
"Eh?" Kanji grunted, falling back into the seat. "That's interestin' n' all," he spat, volume rising, "but it don't explain why you woke us up at 5 in the goddamn mornin'."
Their elder rolled his eyes. "I would like to remind you your employment contract specifically notes this job requires your availability at all hours. Your impudence aside," he drawled, ignoring the fierce scowl generated by the comment, "It concerns you both as such a situation provides a unique opportunity. They have some assets that could be of use to the group, if only to keep them out of the hands of our contemporaries, therefore Kirijo-san intends to make a deal for the controlling stake in the company. Considering all vultures circling, she wants this done quickly. A meeting has been arranged for 8. Hence why I woke you up at 5 in the 'goddamn morning'," he deadpanned, to a lukewarm reception.
Chie zoned out of pretty much the whole explanation, idly flicking through the papers in front of her, eyes widening at the mug shots of six very intimidating men, and they were mug shots, complete with the prison uniforms and faded height chart on the wall behind. "Tekino Security…" She murmured, looking at the logo on the bottom corner of the page. She looked to Tensei. "Are they the other guy's security?"
"Very astute," he said dryly. "Yes. As you can see, we have an understaffed security unit compared to most other companies. Mitsuru-san's insistence, although I have never understood why. In any case, we still need to appear suitably intimidating, which," he cast them both a piercing glance, "may be difficult."
Kanji held back a snarl. "An' we break heads if anything goes wrong, yeah?"
"Well, yes, but it won't," their elder pointed out. "This company is slightly criminal perhaps, and hiring convicted felons is a real indicator of their style, but they aren't a gang. This isn't ever going to turn into an assassination attempt, or hostage situation."
Her daydreams coming out of stuffy old Takenowa's mouth made Chie realise how farfetched they really were. "Well, of course," she laughed nervously, "So we just gotta stand around and look tough?"
The estate manager shook his head slowly. "Not just tough Miss Satonaka. You are both representing the group, and in impromptu negotiations like these, the intimidation factor of one CEO's security onto the other is a small thing, but it can tip the balance into our favour."
The pair of them doubted how important they could really be in a business deal, but the way he said it gave them a sense of duty about the whole thing. "What do we do?" The brunette asked seriously.
"In most cases, be the professionals we hired you to be. In your cases… Lie. A lot, and I don't mean this to be an insult," he stressed, noting the pouts pushing out of his underlings' lips, "You simply haven't been in the field for long enough to have any interesting stories to impress people."
"We had the interview here," Kanji argued, "We took down some really tough bastards."
"You will be dealing with ex-convicts, Tatsumi," he reminded him, "They will have taken down tougher, in such a manner they never got back up." An uneasy silence settled as Tensei studied the two of them, both wondering why they had taken up a profession that included mingling with murderers. "I've decided," their elder declared firmly. He pointed to Kanji. "You'll be in the meeting room. It takes advantage of your more imposing stature and means you don't talk much." He moved his finger over to Chie. "You will be outside the door, and as such, will have to present yourself as convincing opposition to your counterparts. As I said, lie." He stood up from his chair. "I have other duties to fulfil, making sure the rooms are polished, ensuring food is available for our guests, and so on, but I will be back in an hour. Those dossiers contain instructions on how to construct a real security operation, and I expect it to be have read and memorised when I return."
He left with little pomp, scurrying off to do one of a thousand things he must have to do now this business deal had scuppered everyone's schedules. "O….kay?" Chie said blankly, turning to her partner. "Man, this all feels super weird."
He nodded, scratching his forehead. "Didn't think this gig'd get so complicated…" He snapped his fingers. "Hey! That old bastard said he didn't trust me talkin'!"
His friend shook her head. "Sheesh, that bothered you? I'm jealous, you get to stand around, while I gotta talk to all these creeps." She shivered slightly. "And we still have all this stuff to read."
Kanji looked to the table and balked. Sure, it was only a few sides of A4, but it was writing in the most boring script imaginable, which was also tiny and filled the whole page. It was exactly the kind of thing he thought he'd never had to read again once he graduated, bar the odd manual for a sewing machine. "…Shit."
"I read one half you read the other?" Chie offered. "Then we can digest it or whatever." He nodded, and got stuck into reading, while she gave herself a pat on the back. Woo, teamwork.
The lone limousine was a slight disappointment; the security guards had been hoping for an entrance with a helicopter, or at least a whole convoy. Six figured emerged from the vehicle, two smaller men, who must have been the CEO and their lawyer, it was impossible to tell who was which, along with the hulking figures they recognised from the dossiers. The business people were all smiles, Mitsuru and Takenowa bowing to the pair gracefully to their counterparts, and when the gesture was returned, slowly beckoned them inside the building. Meanwhile, both company's muscle were eyeing each other up and down, looking for a hint of weakness. Chie forced herself to be stoic, while Kanji found things to be a little easier since he matched most of the men's height.
Now came the tricky part. The guests tried to follow their boss, but the resident security team neatly sidestepped together to block the door, keeping their arms crossed, silently praying that it didn't come across that they had spent the last ten minutes practicing the manoeuvre. Their opposition certainly weren't impressed, but they at least got the message, the one at the head of their group stepping forwards, and lifting his arms to his sides. Gulping as subtly as she could managed to hold back her groan, Chie stepped towards him and started running her hands all over his body, hoping that holding a stern frown would keep away any blushing. It was awkward enough for her to have been honing these skills on Kanji, and she couldn't decide whether it was easier or harder on a stranger.
Deciding he was clean, she let him into the building, Kanji following carefully. She repeated the motion three more times on the other security guards, letting them through in turn, stepping through the doors herself when her work was done and closing them firmly. She saw the security guards had formed a line, following the journey Kanji had made to the meeting room. The halls were deathly quiet, aside from the murmurings of the businesspeople making small talk, getting louder as they reached their destination. At the meeting room, as agreed, Kanji went inside, letting two of the others come with him, closing the door behind them.
The meeting room felt strange now it was actually being used for a meeting. The two CEOs were on opposite sides of the table, their aides beside them, talking in a tongue he found intelligible, of stock and liquidity and business. He took his place behind Mitsuru, standing, and holding his hands in each other in the stance he and Chie had both figured would look the least ridiculous. The urge to fidget was ridiculous, and he was reminded of the days he used to have in his classroom, where the talk of the adults washed over him, and all he had left was to zone out before the bell rang and he could make his escape.
Outside, Chie stood by the door in the exact same pose as her partner, slightly perturbed by the other security flanking her on both sides. She could her mumblings from the room, but knew it wouldn't be terribly interesting to try and listen in, so settled with staring at the wall.
"You haven't done this for long have you?"
Chie wasn't sure how to react. She turned to the source of the noise on her right, trying to think of a response that would make her seem as tough as Tensei wanted her to looks, before the man on her left interrupted. "Yeah, how old are you kid? Christ. Kirijo's recruiting young these days…"
She flashed to the other side hotly, finding the bald man's sneer infuriating. "Old enough to get this job," she said flatly.
He held up his hands, and she realised the curve on his lips wasn't as much a sneer as it was a wry smirk. "Hey," he said, slightly amused, "I'm just here to get paid, like you. Could do without any tension, alright?"
His partner snorted. "He's right kid. This ain't a business to make enemies. Reason I asked is 'cus you never found this," he added, causing Chie to turn, and nearly jump out of her skin when she saw the six barrelled revolver in his hands. Yelping, she swung her foot high into the bottom of his fist, knocking the piece out of his hands and scuttling to the other side of the corridor. She was going to follow up with some kind of strike, but the pair's soft laughter disarmed her.
"She's quick," the bald one noted, pointedly keeping his eyes on her while the other retrieved his weapon.
"Still don't explain how she got this job," he replied, making a show to Chie of flipping out the barrel, and letting the bullets fall into his palm. "See? No danger. Though if the thing was cocked when you kicked it out, then the damage would be coming out of your paycheck, if you didn't get fired that is."
While somewhat fascinated by the coolness of these two individuals, she was also indignant to being treated like a child. "I'm not a kid," she muttered, wincing with how immature it sounded.
"Sure you ain't," the hairier one said, smiling. "Listen, we all started in the same place, not knowin' how to do things, makin' asses of ourselves. Just wondering how you managed to get yourself such a sweet post so quickly."
"Trust me," his partner laughed, "This guy made so many slip-ups early on. Almost got himself killed."
"Makes ya wanna carry a gun, that's for sure," he agreed.
"Wait, weren't you both yakuza?" She blurted out, instantly regretting it. She was relieved when she got impressed nods in return.
"So she does the pre-reading, that's more than we did," Baldy said to his co-worker.
"Yes, that's true," he answered. "Don't feel bad by the way, you're supposed to be reading up on your competition in this industry. The only reason we had nothin' on you is 'cus there's nothing to go on. Need an employment record, and you've been here…?"
"A week maybe?" she filled in for him.
"Yeah. Not much of a paper trail. Anyway, yeah. We both did some bad stuff when we were younger, worked in the same family actually. Job went south, we had a stretch in the joint, and we decided to go straight. Hard to turn back on that kind of thing sometimes, but people can overlook it if you're talented."
"And we are talented," he friend said seriously. "Maybe we should've looked at the offer for this place, I'm getting tired of moving around all the time."
"Wait a sec…" He snapped his fingers. "Shit, isn't this the place Miziguwa had a tryout for?"
The bald guard nodded. "Oh yeah. Heard he got his temple smashed in by some girl who was barely out of school…" His grin widened when he saw a spark of recognition in Chie's eyes. "Oh man, you did that?"
His partner laughed. "Maybe we should give you more credit. Guy's an asshole, and dumb as hell, but I'm impressed."
Chie found herself smiling, only small, but it brought a certain level of comfort. "Thanks, but I had help from my partner, it was a team effort…"
"So?" The hairy guard grunted. "Your partner is your life here. As long as the two of you are on the same wavelength, you aren't gonna have any problems, understand?" His voice had a different air there, it feeling reminiscent to the old men with flowing grey beards in Chie's kung-fu flicks, and she nodded eagerly. "And by the way, if you wanted to find my gun, you have to be unafraid of poking around my crotch and ass." His delivery was blunt, and she moved away a little, but he simple shrugged. "Hey, it's your life on the line. Some people aren't as nice as we are, hell, in this industry most people aren't as nice as we are. The two guys in there with your friend have 3 murders between them."
Chie's eyebrows jumped straight up, the bald man laughing once again. "Oh, they're not dangerous anymore. They have a family to support now, that's why they have this job. Which reminds me," he said, snapping his fingers and pointing at the young gun, "may I ask why you're here? Don't get me wrong," he reassured, "Taking Miziguwa down is impressive, but there's no way in hell anyone as rich as Mitsuru Kirijo would chance a couple newbies on her life. Are you guys related or something?"
The question was probing, and no answers were forthcoming. "No…" She answered.
"Are you both martial arts prodigies? Like in 'Young Rising Fist'?"
She smiled sadly. "Great movie, but no."
"Oh, it must be some kind of training program, and there's a bunch of guys ready to step in if things go wrong."
Now that would be reassuring, Chie thought blankly. "Nope."
The two guards looked at each other with an incredulous expression? "So" one asked slowly, "how did you get here?
She was silent for a few moments. "I don't know," she sighed, then stuck a thumb up and nodded, "But I can do the job, no sweat!
The pair narrowed their eyes. "Yes, but do you deserve to be here? This gig isn't a game kid." There was the word again, and Chie's temper flared up. "This is life and death, not just yours, but everyone who works here. Can you handle that responsibility?"
"I caught a murderer!" She blurted out, turning away the moment the words left her mouth. Their eyebrows were raised, but she dug her heels into the ground. "So yeah, I can handle life and death."
A familiar voice gasped behind her. "You did what?"
The accent was unmistakable, and Chie didn't bother turning to make a greeting, or to supress her groan. "Hey Labrys-chan."
The maid bounced into her vision, with a whole bundle of questions. "A murderer? The one that was in your town? For real? How'd you do it? Was there a fight?" Her voice lowered to a whisper. "Did you kill them?"
The newcomer made the situation was a little situation a little surreal for the external security. "What's with the outfit?" The bald one asked.
Labrys looked down at herself, brushing at some of the frills and sticking her tongue out. "Mitsuru's weird, any time I bring it up to the other maids they just stare like I'm crazy. Or it was her dad who liked it. Anyway," she finished, waving her hands, "who the hell are you guys?"
"We're just external security," the hairy one explained, "But right now," he continued, nodding to her friend, "We are way more interested in her murder story."
Labrys nodded. "I like you people!" She turned back to Chie, "C'mon, tell tell tell!"
"I think its bullshit…" The bald guard murmured.
"It's not alright?!" The trio stared at her, making Chie shrink slightly. Calm it Satonaka, she thought tiredly, be careful with this, okay... The nature of the incidents made it very difficult to talk about them openly. However, Takenowa did say something about trying to sound impressive... She would have to think on her feet. "Ok, so, at the start of the second year of high school, a couple people were found dead. One of them went to my school."
Labrys gasped, though the more experienced gentlemen were not so moved. The balder one pulled out his phone. "Where was this?"
She wasn't sure whether revealing the location of her home was a good idea. But she decided she was in too deep to back out. "Inaba."
He tapped on the phone for a few moments, and nodded, passing it to his partner. "It checks out, go on."
"Well, he tried kidnapping one of my friends," she coulldn't help but spit the word 'friends', "but we found her before anything bad happened."
"Wow, you saved her!" Labrys exclaimed excitedly.
"It does mention a girl going missing but being returned…" The hairy guard noted.
"So we all decided to look into it. There was on kid who killed my teacher in a copycat crime. We found him at our Junes and brought him to the cops."
"Yeah, says about a kid being arrested there." Labrys drawled. The two security guards looked down, realised neither of them had the phone, and snatched it off the maid, much to her amusement. "Hey, I'm checkin' too ya doofuses!"
"Anyway," Chie went on, "Eventually we found the real guy who was doing it." She stared at the elder pair, hard, and finished her story. "We beat the crap out of him, and the police carted him off. The end."
Her gravitas unsettled all three of them, but that still wasn't a confirmation. "What was his name?"
"Tohru Adachi," she snarled. She still didn't have an inch of forgiveness for him, the sad misogynist bastard.
The bald one, currently in possession of the phone, nodded. "Yeah, that checks out. Could be bullshit still," he admitted, "but you don't strike me as a liar. Doesn't explain how you got this job," he said pointedly, "but I think you'll be able to handle it."
On that last word, the door opened, to the two CEOs striding out with warms smiles and a handshake, while the remaining security, including Kanji, stalked close by. He nodded to Chie, just to say 'all good', before following his charge. Everyone followed the group, in a fashion not nearly as organised as before, including Labrys. "I'm guessing your loverboy was involved in all that stuff with the murders," she asked quietly, the pair of them at the rear of the pack.
"Yes," she replied simply, not entirely pleased at how much she'd revealed.
"I can see what you were gettin' at with it making things intense," Labrys said, with the understanding of someone wanting to empathise but still not quite getting there. "Ya could've told me about that stuff with the murders ya know…"
"I know," she whispered, "There's just a lot we really can't talk about, both of us."
Labrys wait a few moments before asking her really question. "Who was your 'friend'? The one who got taken?"
The animosity in her words earlier were not well hidden, and the inquiry was evidence of that. "Later," she said finally, as they arrived at the front of the mansion. Mitsuru was personally seeing her new business partner away, while the two security guards she had been talking to nodding as they entered the limousine. She returned the gesture, and just like that they were gone, and the mansion compound was as empty as ever. Their boss entered the building without so much as glancing at the pair, though pointedly asking Labrys what she was doing there. A look from Tensei sent the maid scarpering back to whatever task she had been distracted from.
The estate manager looked at his security guard tiredly. "You were both sufficient today." He too entered the building, although with a reminder that their daily duties still had to be fulfilled. Once he left, the partners looked at eachother, and with a low enthusiasm high five, went on to finish their work for the day.
He was shattered, just utterly shattered. But the tailor had agreed to teach, and if it involved fabric by god he'd do it right. He sat nervously until the agreed time, twiddling his thumbs, lacking any basic material to fiddle with. He hoped Fuuka brought the right stuff; he had been very explicit, and was pretty freaked out by the idea of having to do any kind ad-libbing from his planned lesson. It was just going to be a simple introduction to knitting, on making the slipknot and how to turn the loops into a simple cube of stitches. It wasn't like he hadn't taught before, he had tried with his friends and some of the local kids, the latter having much more success, something he tactfully kept to himself.
An incredibly faint knocking pulled him from recalling the strange half cat half puddle Naoto had somehow managed to produce. He doubted whether the sound was real, until he heard it again, with only slightly more force. Standing up from his bed, he walked over to the door and opened it, looking down to see a sizable rainbow of wool, cupped inside a pair of arms. "Good evening, Kanji-kun," was its muffled greeting, "You never specified any colours you may need so I thought…"
He shook his head, fully aware of her limited visibility, and led her inside, carefully taking the stack from her and planting it on the floor. "Uh, thanks, but we aren't gonna be mixing colours for a while. Gotta build up to that sorta thing, y'know?"
Feeling somewhat dejected, she nodded, and looked around the room absentmindedly. "Hmm, this doesn't feel very homely…" Her features snapped to worry as she realised her faux pas. "I'm sorry Kanji-kun It's not appropriate for me to criticise your domicile and its incredibly rude and there's something to be said for minimalism and-"
"You're doin' that thing again," he cut in sharply, shrugging. "S'cool, I know it ain't much so far, only been here a week or so right?"
While she still looked a little distressed, she calmed down considerably. "I know my room here was much similar when I first moved in. Now it's covered in papers and computers and snacks…" She giggled. "I think I actually prefer this now I think about it."
"Well, it ain't stayin' like this for long," he replied, "Once I'm stocked up this place'll be full of crap."
"Oh," she nodded, "with textile supplies you mean? What do you think you'll make?"
"Uh, I dunno. Room at home was mostly animals. Maybe I'll do other stuff here. Then again it has to be animals to be cute…" He realised too late he was voicing his inner thoughts and, ears burning, grabbed the pillows from his bed and put them on opposite sides of the yarn mountain on the floor. "Geddown here and we'll get started."
She obliged, and they took their places, Kanji taking two balls of the yarn, a purple one for himself, and a sea-green one for his pupil. He pulled out two sets of needles from the yarn-stack, and pushed the rest aside with a large cast of his arm. He felt the ball in his hand, trying to a get a feel for the material. Man, this feels like crap compared to the kind we usually get, he thought with some disappointment. Then again, he knew he was a little rusty, and that might help ease the pressure. "So," he exhaled, "First thing you gotta do is make the slipknot, that's where it all starts. Ya make a loop like so," he began to demonstrate, "put this through like this, and then pull it tight round the needle. Got that?" There was a certain vacancy in her expression that didn't exactly boost Kanji's confidence. "Wan' me to show ya again?" he asked helpfully.
She nodded, and so he repeated the motion, her eyes locked onto his dexterous hands. "I see," she murmered, "So make the knot like this, and then-" She stared at the thread, somehow unravelling the knot she had just made right away.
Kanji couldn't supress his groan, which he was slightly ashamed of. "Nah, you gotta do it like this," he showed her again, "See?" It took a short while, which the security guard's hot headed side found infuriating, but eventually the scientist's needles became a mirror to his own. "Alright! Now, ya gotta cast on. This is tricky, you gotta twist it round your hand and… Ya know what, come over here, it'll be easier to see."
She shuffled behind him and watched carefully over his shoulder, making him slightly uncomfortable by umming and ahhing over a technique that in reality was relatively simple, in his reality at least. "Okay," Fuuka said slowly, "I think I'd like to try." She went back to her spot, and remarkably, performed the motion exactly as he had shown, yarn wrapped perhaps not perfectly, but well enough around the end of her needle. His surprise must have shown, because she started frowning at her work. "What did I do wrong…" she wondered curiously.
"No, uh," Kanji objected, waving his needles to get her attention. "You did good." Her delighted smile welled up a surprising amount of pride in Kanji's chest. He'd always liked helping people out, even if it was only in the last couple of years that he'd really gotten the opportunity. Maybe I should try teachin' Chie again, he thought, Hell, I bet Labrys'd give it a good shot. "Right, so, now we do the actual stitching part. You gotta kinda stick the other needle through the loop, move it around, stick it through again, get rid of the old one an-" Realising he was rambling, he thumbed over his shoulder. "Just watch me again, its easier."
Once again she angled herself behind him to watch him work, asking questions when necessary. "So you do this to the of the cast?"
"Yeah," he answered, eyes still on his yarn, "Then you gotta switch hands an' do it the other way."
She watched for another three passes, and went back to her pillow to try herself. Just before she gave it a try, she asked a question. "When do I stop?"
"Don't," he grunted, already lost in his own design, "Ya learn by repetition so go through the whole ball."
With that she set to work. It was tricky, the moves were complicated, and she already knew it wasn't going completely correctly, with some of the yarn misplaced in the pattern. Still, she stuck with it, and, settled into a steady rhythm, to the point where she felt she could talk while her hands committed the motions to memory. "This is a fascinating exercise…"
"I like it," her teacher said, also staying fixed on his motions, "Keeps me occupied. Rather get something outta my time then just sit in front of thee TV, ya know?"
"Oh yes," Fuuka agreed. "Making things has a certain thrill." She laughed a little. "I shouldn't really call it a thrill, I never make anything exciting…"
"Really?" Kanji said curiously. "You make stuff?"
"Oh yes," the scientist replied. "I've always been into technology, how everything worked. I started taking things apart and then together again, then I actually started just buying the parts and trying to get somewhere with them. There were stereos, radios, and oh! I made this watch," she held up her wrist, "I gave some other ones to my friends. I'm not sure if they wear them still…"
Kanji was surprised. He'd never considered a poindexter could be anything more than a smartass in his eyes, and here was proof there was something more material in book learning. "That isn't exciting? It's pretty damn cool if ya ask me."
"It's nothing really," she downplayed, in a way that came across as very rehearsed. "Once you learn how something works, it's quite simple to emulate…"
"Same with stitching," Kanji pointed out, "Yet our shop is still the only one in Inaba. C'mon, at least admit you're proud of what you can do."
She was quiet, but then a small smile grew on her face. "Yes, I am. Sorry, I sometimes think it's arrogant to feel that way."
Turning away from his hands, which were producing a perfect if rather generic stitch, he looked to his pupil seriously. "I know that feeling, and it's just plain dumb to have. There's enough crap in the world without piling yourself on top of it all." He looked back down to his needles, sighing and shaking his head. "Spent a long time being ashamed of this whole thing and it really wasn't worth it."
"The whole thing… You mean sewing and knitting?" Fuuka asked with slight naivety. "Why would you?"
He looked at her strangely. "You're kidding right?" She looked up from her stitch and tilted her head, so Kanji pointed between his piercings and his scar. "Get the picture?"
"Um…" Her tongue was pressed between her lips, and Kanji was astounded from this lacklustre demonstration of her common sense. "You feel made you can't make any facial features from fabric?"
"Ack! No," he rubbed his eyes, "I just ain't what people expect to see behind the counter, alright? They want a wrinkly old bag who's always smiling, not some thug…"
Fuuka hummed, considering his words. "I see. Your issue is with people's expectations. I'm not sure if I've ever had that problem, people can usually work out a lot about me from one conversation! I could say my parents expectations were a little problem," she reached feebly, "They always wanted me to be a doctor.
He looked at her dumbly. "I'm not sure if we're talking about the same thing here…"
"I mean I could still be a doctor," she insisted weakly, "Its just my work here doesn't lend to a thesis particularly well. Maybe when things calm down…"
The conversation had left the road and left Kanji in the metaphorical woods. "The hell is a thesis?"
"It's a piece of research submitted to an official body, which can grant you a doctorate in your field!" The woman replied brightly. "I still don't think that would make my parents happy though," she sighed, "When they heard I started a technology club at school, they kept telling me it wouldn't help with entrance exams. It was discouraging, but I enjoyed it, so it wasn't much of a price to pay."
"A club huh? So ya talked about making stuff?"
"Yup, and whatever was interesting, like discussing which smartphone was objectively better." Her left eye twitched slightly. "Those were great… Not at all dull and repetitive."
Kanji sensed the ire in her tone and automatically tried to lighten the mood. "I hate electronics and stuff, always break on me. Tried using a circuit kit, like, a three year olds, to make a dog with a wagging tail, an' I damn near burned the house down."
"It was a good idea though," Fuuka reassured him, "I could come up with something if you'd like?"
He shook his head firmly. "That was years ago, not worth going over. Got better things to do."
"I see…" She saw she was getting close to the end of her yarn, and panicked slightly. "Ahh, Kanji-san, what do I do?!"
The worry proved infectious. "Shit! Uh…" He breathed slowly. "You cast off. Just do what I do, here…" He quietly showed her the motion, which she imitated quickly, far too quickly, roughly finishing her greenish patch. She pouted at her creation. "This isn't very good…"
"Bull," Kanji said immediately, grabbing the little thing. He ran his finger over the stiches. "See how they're getting more uniform as I go down? Means you were improving. I've seen a lot of first efforts, and this is a good one man."
His generous assessment really cheered her up. "Only because of your tutoring." She looked longingly at his purple square, perfectly produced and proportioned. "You're really talented you know. Did you learn from other people?"
"Only Ma," he said, grabbing more yarn from the pile. "As I said, people didn't take to me doing this as much as I took to doin' it, you get me?"
"Surely there was a club you could have joined to discuss it though," she said, "people who wouldn't judge you and understand your craft? Even outside of school."
"I, um…" His ears flared a fierce red. "Dammit, I was too chicken to join, alright?!" It was a constant sticking point for him. It would have been to perfect 'up yours' to anyone who'd given him grief about his craft, to be turning up to where he didn't belong for a thousand reasons and absolutely kill it, but it was still hard to work up the courage to walk through the doors. Impossible, as it turned out.
Knowing she'd hit a nerve, and feeling his temper, Fuuka moved to a softer approach. "Well, I think you have one now, if that counts for anything."
It felt completely lame, but the idea was a source of comfort. "A club can't be two people," he countered half-heartedly.
The technology club was only ever supposed to be two people, the girl thought sombrely. "Of course it can," she smiled, "We just have to keep attending!"
"Well if you're bein' serious…" Kanji tossed her a couple balls of the yarn. "We'll reconvene in a few days. I want some stiches from these, ya hear?"
"Yes sir!" She took the material enthusiastically, and got up from her seat. "Thank you for your tutelage," she bowed clumsily.
"Eh, it's nothin'," he replied, "Ask me if you have any questions or you forget anythin', alright?"
"I will," she promised, going to the door. "Goodnight, Kanji-san."
"It's kun!" He protested as she left the room. "Night," he added uselessly, before turning to the great stack of yarn on his left. Now, what's Labrys' colour, he tried to decide…
AN- Uh, hey guys, been a while. Just found it hard to get stuff down the last month or so. Dunno if that's what writers block is, or if I just felt this chapter was just filler, which it is I guess, but I think filler is needed just so things aren't rushed. I'm telling a story here, not plot points, right?
Anyhoo, thanks for the reviews as usual, gotta love that feedback. No promises on the timing of the next chapter, but it's an important one, so hopefully I'll be revved up to get it to you soon. See you then! -WN