ಠ-ಠ: Do they like it when people touch their hair?
Oh god yes. Kyouhei will melt if you give him a scalp massage but even patting his head or playing with his hair will put him in a better mood. It’s a type of positive physical contact no one has had the opportunity to ruin for him yet.
(〇o〇;): What is their body language like when they are stressed? Do they try and hide the fact that they are stressed? How do they recover from said stress?
When stressed:
Kyouhei will get stereotypical sweaty palms when stressed and he becomes very tense - to the point where he looks like someone who just barely got away with a crime. He finds it hard to concentrate on anything - especially the thing stressing him out, but will hardly ever remove himself from whatever’s making him feel bad.
While he isn’t good at hiding he’s stressed he’ll usually brush off any questions with superficial answers and insist he’ll get over whatever it is soon. Often laughs it off, even going as far as to say that he thinks he’s overreacting.
Recovering from stress:
While he won’t remove himself from whatever’s causing the stress he’ll collapse as soon as he’s deemed it “safe”. This means curling up on the nearest soft surface (preferably with another person) and distracting himself either by sleeping or by talking about something completely different.
On occasion, he’ll want to vent but this is an urge he’s learned to suppress and would only happen if he felt an enormous amount of trust towards his cuddle-buddy.
Kyouhei is rather attached to sleeping, and it doesn’t help that his dreams are usually pleasant. If you play some loud music it disturbs his dreams and he’ll wake up in a panic, or you can just pinch his cheeks softly.
Getting out of bed:
Even after waking up, he’s rather attached to wherever he’s sleeping (it takes a while for him to get comfortable so he’s reluctant to move) but if you remind him of the numerous responsibilities he has under his belt Kyouhei’ll get a move on with his life.
Σ(゚Д゚;): Have they ever sprained or broken their leg before? How about their arm? What was the story behind it?
╰(*´︶`*)╯: Do they appreciate hugs? Would they prefer to give hugs or receive hugs? What kind of hugs do they like to receive and/or give?
ಠಿ_ಠ: Do they look up or down when they are trying to recollect something?
ヽ( ´O`): What is their body language like when sleepy?
(Д゚≡゚Д゚): When they are surprised by somebody do they physically jump? Scream?
(⸝⸝⸝ ̑ ̑⸝⸝⸝): Does their face get red after they drink?
(„ᵕᴗᵕ„): Does their face turn red when embarrassed? If so, how else do they react when embarrassed? (I.E. Shifting of weight upon foot, etc.)
( ๑‾̀◡‾́)σ»: Do they have a sensitive spot/s?
(〇o〇;): What is their body language like when they are stressed? Do they try and hide the fact that they are stressed? How do they recover from said stress?
ಠ-ಠ: Do they like it when people touch their hair?
(ノ≧ڡ≦): Do they like to show affection by physically teasing? (I.E: Shoulder punches, etc.)
♪⁽⁽٩( ᐖ )۶⁾⁾ ₍₍٩( ᐛ )۶₎₎♪: How are they like when they dance? Are they stiff? Fluid? A good dancer? Do they prefer to dance with a lot of others, with one other person, or alone?
ง ( ⌓̈ )ง: Are they physically strong when it comes to fights?
(´∀`): Do they laugh when they get nervous?
ಥoಥ: How are they like when they cry? Do they just stream tears nonstop? Does their nose get clogged to the point that it’s hard to breathe? Is it easy for them to speak when they are sobbing? Do they hiccup when they cry?
ಸヮಸ: Do they lean back or forward when they laugh hard? Do they snort? Slap their knee? Do that seal-esque clap? Do they often laugh to the point that you can’t hear their laugh anymore?
「(°ヘ°): How does one calm them down when they are freaking out? Do they prefer physical comfort, or would they rather be left alone?
⊙.☉: Does their voice get an octave higher when they lie? Does it crack?
( ˘͈ ᵕ ˘͈♡): Does having somebody stroke their head make them feel relaxed?
(ꈍᴗꈍ)ε`*): Do they prefer kisses on the cheek? Forehead? What about neck kisses?
(-.-): How should one wake them up? Do they get out of bed easily?
(ó﹏ò。): Are there any foods that make their stomach upset?
Everyone has their moments and that’s okay. As long as you didn’t hurt anyone (or yourself) it was fine. It was shocking to see him throw up all the notecards, but he could certainly understand the notion. Sometimes he just wanted to give up as well and just stare up at the sky absentmindedly.
“Yeah, let’s see how well this will work out for us.” He followed Kyohei’s actions curiously, moving some chairs on his end of the table and set them aside. He accepted the one pile of the cards and he stared down at them, wondering how well this was going to go.
“Guess we can start with setting up the base?” He was guessing that laying down some cards to use as a base would serve them well so they wouldn’t have to worry about the cards sliding around on the table. Though they would have to worry about the cards that were laid down on the base would end up sliding. “Then we can work on setting up the triangles of the castle.” That is how it works, isn’t it?
Kyouhei wasn’t too good at this on his own, but once he’d managed to make a base for his pile and it was easier from there. Still, only time would tell of their success or failure.
“How far across should we make it?” He had roughly fifty cards altogether, which meant Dongmin and he each had about twenty-five, even if he hadn’t counted them all individually, and that meant that if they wanted they could make a pretty big tower….
“Uhm, yeah, probably.” The table would be too slippery otherwise. He began to set a few down, then took two in his hands and made a test triangle, quickly becoming tense with concentration.
“Oh, of course I can. I’m an expert at opening locked doors. It’s a specialty of mine you could say.” He crouched down for a moment to inspect the lock and hummed to himself. After a few seconds he nodded his head and stood up. “Well lucky for you this doesn’t take much effort. They really should change the locks around here, I mean really.”
With that he took a step back and slammed his heel into the door right about the knob. The door made a cracking noise as it swung open; the top hinge broke off and it hung precariously from the middle and bottom hinges. “Ooops, that was some overkill there.” Yoichi walked inside to inspect the broken hinge. “Ah, that’s an easy fix. We really could’ve been in some trouble for a second there.”
He looked around the immediate area until he located the two small nails that had popped out of place. Picking them up, he stuck them back into their holes and used his flashlight to bang them into place. “There we go. Good as new. Er, actually I’d call maintenance to fix that, I’m not entirely sure the door is going to be straight.” He turned to face the younger boy with his hands on his hips; his watch beeped as a self satisfied smile crossed his face.
“Hah, and just in time. Now, do you need any help with something that doesn’t involve doing illegal things?”
Kyouhei…… didn’t know what to say.
He probably should’ve expected this, knowing his luck, that the officer (Yoichi, he meant) would go about it destructively, and not have a master key or a lock-picking set - although having a lock-picking set would be a pretty weird thing to see on a police officer, right?
The student couldn’t find it in him to care anymore. It was late, he was exhausted, and honestly. Honestly. The fact that he’d seen Yoichi lift his leg and didn’t even bother to try stopping him said something about his mental state.
“I’d offer you some food as thanks,” but I don’t know if I should thank you, “but I don’t know if they’ll charge for repairs and I’ll need all the food I can get if so.”
Still, the nice boy inside him wouldn’t let this go without… without something. He reached into his pocket for his notepad and pencil, scribbled down a number, and ripped it out, presenting it with little ceremony to his “savior”. “If you ever need something a college student can provide, text me… or something.”
Humming through the halls of the university with taiyaki in his mouth, Leo was on his way to class. Or, at least he thought it was the way to his class. Wandering through the long empty corridors, his exceptional hearing picked up someone’s voice and he followed it.
Poking his head into what seemed like an empty classroom, the composer noticed another person standing in front of some… lab equipment? Were they a scientist? How interesting! What was more interesting was their voice. It seemed like they could sing and it wasn’t bad at all. Somehow, this train of thought seemed familiar to him, but he couldn’t recall where he had it. Oh well.
“Hey~!” Leo called out to them loudly after swallowing the rest of his snack. “Whatcha humming!? Ah, and what’re you doing? Is it science? A science guy!? Or, maybe you work with the aliens~”
Not expecting anyone to find him (or interrupt), Kyouhei startled, dropped his tongs while trying to look over his shoulder at whoever was spying in on him, catching a glimpse of orange/red hair before the panic set in.
He’d dropped a potassium cube. He’d dropped a potassium cube into a dish of cleaning water, and it was already starting to react.
With an urgency he didn’t know he had, the student scrambled away, hitting the floor in front of the door as the cube popped due to the transfer of electrons, causing a loud, smoky explosion.
Or was he giving it too much credit, seeing as there was no fire, only a reaction that created a violent noise and a screen of smoke…? In the end, all that mattered was that it was harmless from a distance.
A little stunned, Kyouhei stared up at the person still standing in the door, a little irritated but mostly just indifferent to everything. That had been his last potassium cube, too….
Kyouhei cheered when it was announced they were done for the day, immediately moving to his tote bag and peeling off his surgical gloves to snag his phone out of its front pocket, adjusting quickly to the change in perception his glasses caused.
It was a little too late for him to stop by a fast food joint or a restaurant without feeling a bit guilty towards the workers, so he’d probably make curry or heat up some leftovers at home.
“Hey, boss,” he smiled over his shoulder, still a little energized by their unexpected - and borderline dangerous - experiments. “Do you want to join me for dinner? I promise I’m not a terrible cook.”
Kyouhei let out a half-sigh, half-yawn and stretched his arms over his head, not satisfied until he heard the popping of his shoulder joints, the tension from sitting upright in his uncomfortable desk chair.
Ignoring the papers and dog-eared science theory books littering his desk, he turned to check on his study buddy, Mizumachi, ready to offer the other student a bed or at least a pillow when he found he’d been beaten to the punch.
The sight of his friend just totally knocked out with his study materials made Kyouhei feel warm, and even if it wasn’t that deep it was a sign of trust that he would now treasure.
Fighting another yawn, he crept off to his bed and removed his blankets and a few pillows from it, resisting the urge to hum so late at night - strike that, it was nearly two AM.
Carefully, he spread the blanket over the resting Mizumachi and dropped a pillow beside his head (just in case he woke up and needed one) before stumbling over to his love seat and collapsing, pillow and blanket bunched up in his arms.
Kyouhei only baked once in a blue moon, despite making sure to cook something every other day. It was usually easier to make something filling that would last a long time (like meatloaf or spaghetti) as opposed to something sweet he’d be tempted to eat in one go.
The obvious solution was to share the Peach Cobbler with someone, of course!
“Be sure to tell me what you think! This is my first time trying this recipe, so I’m a little nervous…” The student found himself chattering nervously while cutting out a portion, which was still warm, and holding it out to the photographer. “Eat up!”
The boy was being more obedient now, eating the chocolate and drinking the water as he had been told. He also answered to izumi’s suggestions.
he didn’t minded the reservation he took at some points; no one wants to talk about personal stuff with a stranger. It was understandable, and expected. Izumi himself didn’t knew much about this stranger, so he was just throwing ideas at the air.
“Well, I believe building up confidence in yourself is what helps against negative critique. That and not caring too much about what others might think. But you can only do that yourself. You can’t ask for help when it comes to that kind of thing” he concluded “Things like gaining lots of confidence in something most people aren’t too good at, is a good way of getting that”
He sighed, trying to think of more ideas. he was already getting invested in helping this boy.
“What do you feel the most confident about? Studies, games, whatever. If you have one thing you can start from there. it’s also helpful when making friends”
Wow, this Izumi was… pretty smart. Good at giving advice, in any sense. Kyouhei made sure to listen intently while finishing off the chocolate and washing it down with some more water.
He then had to pause. Because… he’d never really thought about what he was good at. Whenever the student had to make decisions, it wasn’t usually based on “well, I’m good at this” but rather “this would be better for me”.
Well, there was obviously talent involved, so maybe it was something that went along with having hobbies? So….
“I guess… I’m a quick learner? And I have a good sense of rhythm, and I’m fast - but none of those are really practical skills, right?” Especially not in biochemistry, where it was a good memory that was needed. It was very matter-of-fact.
As for the friends front, Kyouhei’d just moved and the whole ‘socializing’ business was fairly strange to him, but there were already a few people who probably didn’t mind hanging around him?
“You’re very sensible, aren’t you Sena? Or maybe you have experience in stuff like this…?”
Akira doesn’t move at all, he doesn’t really care too much if he gets wet since he knows he’s going to at some point, but he does appreciate Kyouhei’s efforts not to splash any water on him.
“It could be useful, especially if you’re new to this area.” He wasn’t sure if Kyouhei was new to Bellevue but there was no harm in mentioning the update of a weather app, it did turn out to be helpful after all.
“Um…I think I’ll wait out a bit. I was only heading home, so it’s not like I’m in a rush.” Morgana could wait, maybe he’ll even bring his cat back some sushi as a treat. Rubbing the back of his neck, he turned his head to the other.
“I forgot to introduce myself– I think? My name is Akira Kurusu.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” Feeling a little foolish for putting off the act for so long (because of what it meant, really) Kyouhei took out his phone and turned on the automatic location setting on his phone before putting it away, not risking any water damage on that front.
“There, problem solved! Well, as long as you only make a mistake once I’m sure it’s fine.” Not including fatal mistakes, of course.
The brunet nodded, acknowledging the decision Akira had made - and what a nice, simple name! He hoped he wouldn’t forget it on accident. “Kyouhei, a pleasure to meet you Akira - though I’m sure the conditions could’ve been better.”
“Same, same~” he chuckled a bit himself, quickly getting three boxes of pizza, each one of a different type , while listening to the boy speaking.
“Heh, you think so? TYVM~ wanna join my party lol?” he said, turning towards the boy again “Well, don’t despair. Even working adults like me give up on normal groceries~ Lack of time, lack of skill. And junk food is great~”
This guy talked like he mentally read some people’s texts. All jumbled up with acronyms and… actually pretty funny to hear out loud, although not funny enough to elicit a laugh from Kyouhei.
“I’m not sure, ah - what game is it?” He wasn’t a HUGE gamer but there were a few MMO’s he indulged in, and he was very partial to 3DS titles. Some Nintendo games had a multiplayer feature, right? Not that he had many people to play with.
“As much as I love junk food, sometimes I need… tacos. Or spaghetti. And those don’t come in boxed meals.”
[水] - Mizumachi only laughed in response. Of course he gets it! He is always up for something interesting and fun! That’s indirectly how he got wrapped up in this mess to begin with! He wanted to try training in another country, messed up and somehow found himself in Bellevue on some exchange program or whatever it was. He should have followed the rest who went to train in the Americas. Where else can you train to become a great American Football Athlete than America? Well, he wanted to be different.
Needless to say, he sure messed that up, but alas! That’s okay! He’s been having fun here, and he’s met all kinds of interesting people, you know?
“Haha! Yeah, investigating curious things is always fun! I like to travel to the beach a lot. Meet new people, gather shells, swim, check people out, beach volley, or tan!”
One of those things was not quite like the others. Who goes to the beach to play ‘Beach volley,’ right? It was all about Beach football! Everything else was common sense for when you go to the beach. It was just like how it was a duty of a guy to try to peep at the girl’s baths at least once in their life timeon a field trip. Yep. That’s what youth is about.
Sometimes Mizumachi would be piling up stools in the bathhouse so he can make a platform to dive off of so he could start swimming in the bathhouse. Then he’d get scolded by his friend Kakei. Be made to apologize, and then have to settle down and sit in the warm bath like a ‘good boy’.
“Nhaa~ I do! I got a loud voice! I’ll be a dynamic announcer! Yeah! I also competitive swim and play American football. It’s tough to balance everything, but it’s all worth it.”
He did love swimming and playing American football, so he was willing to put forth the effort.
“Ah! So you wanna follow me back to the dorms, or something? I’m headed there myself and we can keep talking.”
All is good to stand around and talk, but they should get going before it gets too dark, right?
“The beach?” Kyouhei hadn’t been to a beach in forever. He could only faintly remember going as a little kid, seeing the water go on without an end, touching the sky (in his mind, that’s what it was doing) on the horizon.
“Are you a beach-y person, Mizumachi? Is there a beach in Bellevue?” If so, the brunet definitely wanted to go there. Would the sand be as hot as he remembered? The sea as salty? No doubt it’d be more intense, now.
He totally glazed over the majority of what the larger man said, due to overthinking, but he could’ve sworn… well, it wasn’t really any of his business, right? Right.
Still, it was amazing that Mizumachi had so much on his plate and seemed to have energy to spare (if the current conversation was telling). It made Kyouhei a bit envious.
“I’m sure with your enthusiasm, you can get whatever announcing job you want - and at least you’re doing what you want to do, so that has to make it a little easier?” Not that he was the expert in following dreams, but it always seemed to be easier to do something when you enjoyed it.
Kyouhei took out his phone and peered at the time, noting that it was, in fact, much later than he should be pushing his free time to be, and made a long ‘eh’ noise.
“I would really appreciate that, thanks!” With a soft grin, Kyouhei pocketed his phone and turned to his now-guide and mock-saluted. “After you!”
In the dim lighting and with low voices, Kyouhei couldn’t help but shudder when presented with the adjuring. Akira wasn’t one to pry often, so the biochemistry student couldn’t find it in him to refuse.
“I…” he swallowed, trying to decide what to reveal. It was a tough decision but he wouldn’t back down. “I’m avoiding my family. I haven’t talked to them since I moved. Part of me hopes I’ll never have to talk to them again.”
Kyouhei blinked, a little surprised by the request, and then rested his chin onto his palms, considering his options. There were two kinds of dreams, and since he wasn’t really a sleep-dreamer….
“A lo-o-ong time ago, when I was still young and hopeful,” so not too long ago, if he wasn’t honest. But it sounded better if he started out like that. “I wanted to be a Geoscientist. I still kinda do, but that’s no longer an option for me, really.”
Kyouhei spluttered and waved his hands back and forth in front of him as if warding off an unsavory question or offer. It really wasn’t his fault he could only hear one-half of the conversation (which he now knew was because it was a phone call), and that he assumed the worst.
Really.
“Nothing big! I mean,” he clasped his hands together, nervously, looking back over his shoulder in an effort not to meet Kyouya’s eyes. “It kinda sounded like you were… extorting someone? Maybe?”
What a strangely serious way of phrasing that. Kyouhei almost felt like answering in a semi-serious way.
That didn’t last long though.
“Yesss.” He grinned, holding the metal tray awkwardly against his torso, positioned like a breastplate. It was no legit armor but with the right amount of tape, it’d do. “Duct me up, ‘Yori.”
Kyouhei hesitated. There was so much that Izumi’s question entailed, so much was included in that category of his life. It was difficult imagining how he could’ve turned out, and part of him wanted to cop out of answering, but his friend probably wouldn’t accept that.
“I guess so.” At his center, he’d always been a bit shy and not very rebellious, he’d probably end up right where he was - how depressing. “It isn’t all bad, though, don’t worry about it.”
Kyouhei let out a groan instead of properly replying, his belly aching from the amount of food now stored in it. He could really feel the regrets weighing on him now that there was no food left to distract him from it.
“If I could go back in time…” wait, he actually probably wouldn’t stop himself. No self-control and all that. “I’d probably just encourage myself to eat more, now that I think about it….”
“There’s something I really need to tell you.” “I honestly thought that things would be very different.” “Do you wish you could have done it differently?” “What exactly did you think was happening here?” “How do you decide when it’s enough?” “I would die for this cause.” “There are only a few things in this world that are truly important to me.” “Ideals have to count for something.” “Why should I be a nice person?” “This was meant to be easier.” “I have an idea that I need to share.” “Look, you might not like me but we’re stuck in this.” “You remind me of someone I once knew.” “How long does it take people to change, I wonder?” “There are no good choices here.” “There are days I think we’re just in over our heads here.” “How do you keep going when things get hard?” “Are you genuinely interested in me as a person, or is this a game too?” “I care what I look like because I care what people think of me.” “Why did you decide to do it?” “You know what I really regret?” “I’m still struggling to believe any of this is real.” “Are you certain this is what you really want.” “Tell me a dream? Or a secret?” “Do you think you would still be the same person if things had turned out differently?” “What I really meant to say was very different.” “I don’t know if you’ll like what I have to say to you, but I have to tell you anyway.” “You were never supposed to know.” “Why can’t you just follow instructions?” “Why can’t you just ignore instructions?” “What chains you to this life? What keeps you here?”
[Just got a new laptop and it’s different than what I usually use so I’m going to take a day to work out how everything works and to transfer all my stuff, then replies will be back on~.]
“Of course, I won’t be offering otherwise if I wasn’t okay with it.” Plus, she had been used to sleeping just wherever with whoever happened to show up; she remembers doing this back in the dorms in Iwatodai and in a few of the brooding schools she was at before.
And making new friends was a good idea too, while she was at it. She hadn’t really interacted with anyone in the city that much (though to be fair, she was busy with school and work) so it would be good, wouldn’t it?
“Yeah, just give me a second.” She moved over from her spot on the blanket she had laid out that she was on, patting the spot where she just was in what she thought was an inviting fashion, a small smile on her face. “Don’t worry about making me uncomfortable, I am the one offering after all.”
Kyouhei grinned widely and rolled out his shoulders - he might as well get all his wiggles out now so that he wouldn’t accidentally wake up his napping buddy or interrupt them before they properly fell into a sleep cycle.
“Sweet~.” He kicked off his sneakers and knelt down onto the blanket, settling half-into the warm spot made by the girl - oh, wasn’t it kind of rude to do this without introducing himself? “I’m Kyouhei, by the by. Thank you for sharing this with me.”
Carefully, he settled onto his back and folded his hands over his stomach, his head tilted so he could clearly see his snuggle-buddies reaction.
[水] - Smoothies~! Always a wonderful thing to have when you are soon to get ready to abuse your brain with studying—or you know… getting knocked around while on the field. Either or works. Mizumachi was following after Kyouhei out of curiosity to watch him gather stuff for the blender.
“Huh? Me? Uh… I don’t think so.”
Well, did boredom count? Sometimes if he got too bored, he like breaks into hives (okay, that’s a joke) and has this intense need to break out into— well, something! Kyohei has been spared this, but sometimes when Mizumachi got excited enough, he’d start stripping. Just down to his boxers, no worries! Sometimes they were swim trunks!
“You allergic to something? Like chlorine maybe? That would be sad. Then you can’t swim in the swimming pool.”
What is life without swimming? It is a life instead full of American football, that’s what! Haha!
Kyouhei hummed, happy he didn’t have to pull anything out of his usual smoothie recipe and began to peel a banana with one hand and his teeth while opening his small-ish jug of milk with the other.
Into the blender, they went and the semi-talented chef plopped the top on before turning to answer, grinning.
“I’m not allergic to chlorine - unless it’s made of peanut butter. I have a nasty strong peanut butter allergy. Found out after trying a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup for the first time. It really sucked. Although, yum.”
He wasn’t sure why it would be thought he was allergic to chlorine - maybe Mizumachi was trying to figure out why he was so pale?
He scratched his cheek as the younger male described his predicament. Well he was fresh out of luck if he left it at work; not even Yoichi was dedicated enough to go on a hunt for some dorm keys. “Well if you dropped them I can help you look around.” Not like he had much anything else to do. He blinked at the others question before flicking the name on his badge.
“Officer Oshiro from Bellevue’s finest at your service. Although you can just call me Yoichi, that’s what everyone else does.” He tucked the flashlight under his elbow and began picking at his nails. “I’m on patrol right now. Supposed to be watching out for riff raff or something. I just assumed that you weren’t some hooligan looking to break in because…well…you’re a bit scrawny. And most young offenders would probably make less noise when trying to enter a building.” He spoke from experience, of course.
“Anyway,” he let the flashlight roll back into his hand and tilted his head, “do you want to solve the immediate problem at hand or would you rather go waste your time at midnight looking for your keys. The real question being, if you did leave them at work could you even get in the building to retrieve them.” Yoichi glanced at his watch. “My first offer remains for another three minutes and fifteen seconds.”
“Nice to meet you, Officer - I mean, Yoichi?.” Kyouhei wondered if maybe he should salute. It was more of a military thing, right? What did you do to show respect to police officers… well, he’d figure it out?
He figured that was the case - not the part about the guy being an officer, but the ‘too scrawny’ part - that and there was the argument that he didn’t have a meaninglessly violent bone in his entire body.
That wasn’t really helpful but now there was an element of panic involved - a time limit. He felt like he was playing that one shark-watching simulator where you had to tranq the shark - anyways.
“Can you really get me inside?” Did he have a master key or something? A lock-picking set? Kyouhei decided to go with the quick solution. He could find his key tomorrow.
Stepping back to admire his handiwork, Komui grinned in satisfaction as he read the notice he had just finished hanging up. It had been a while since he had had an assistant but he thought now was as good a time as any to try find a new one. Hence all the posters he had pinned around the university where they would hopefully catch some prospective students eyes.
Frowning momentarily, the scientist wondered whether anyone would take any interest in applying for the position as even though there were benefits, such as credits towards the year mark and hands on experience, working with him seemed to be considered a dangerous task. People just didn’t seem to understand that explosions were a natural part of science. It wasn’t as if he intentionally set things (and people) on fire… at least, not all the time…
There wasn’t anything more he could do but wait, the most tedious part of the process to be sure. Giving a final parting glance at the page hanging on the wall, Komui then turned to head back towards his office to wait for the applicants to arrive.
If any did come…
On his way back from his basic Chem classes to his dorm, Kyouhei walked past a person who was walking away from a big poster - probably an ad or request of some kind.
Some of the ads posted around campus could be pretty interesting (evidence one, his own request a while ago) but the guy looked almost professional… which could mean possible credits.
Eyes sparkling with hope and with half a dozen Chemistry notes now shoved into his pockets, the brunet spared a prayer for anything that might be listening that the ad was something he qualifed for while sprinting towards where the ad was set up.
Breath catching softly in his throat as he wasn’t the fittest of adults - he gave the poster a once over. Then a twice-over, a grin splitting his lips as it looked very, very promising for him. A lab partner, he could be.
He pulled out his phone and dialed up the provided number at the speed of light, figuring a call was more convenient before remembering he’d seen someone walking away and closed the device, rushing to catch up.
“Hey, hey!” Grasping for something to call the person by, Kyouhei yelled out the first thing that came to mind, which just happened to be; “Man in the glasses! Excuse me!”
Never let it be said that Kyouhei was a half-assed student - as much as he complained and grouched over the fine details of chemistry and physics as a whole he did the work: and that included the practical work.
Such as experiments that made him feel like a real scientist.
Dolled up in glasses and a lab coat with his hair just barely held back by some mousse and some hair clips, he was carefully organizing, heating and mixing chemicals for the results marked down in his study guide.
The process was so mechanical that it was soothing, and Kyouhei found himself humming softly while he working, even going as far as to sing a few lines out loud - there was no one around so it was fine.
Kyouhei was really, really tempted to accept. Who knew when he’d get another chance to hold Yuuto’s hand? Nervously, he held out his own hand, palm towards the sky, trying not to shake but failing.
Realizing that the thought process was pretty self-centered (and it almost felt like he was using the idol, and he pulled back, cheeks puffed out slightly.
Kyouhei couldn’t help but laugh - settling back in place to do so just in case Izumi decided to lash out. It wasn’t really that funny but at the same time, it was because wow, maybe Izumi didn’t know him all that well?
“Is there such a thing as too sappy when it comes to me?” He teased, lacing his fingers together and sticking out his tongue. “I’m the sap-master, king and lord of all the gooey, warm emotions. Better watch out or I’ll infect you!”
Kyouhei startled at the sudden suggestion, his face flushed. Was she teasing him? He couldn’t really tell. It sounded honest but he was… well. Not the best at people-judgments.
“I don’t… need to hold your hand this time. This time.” He muttered, turning away slightly. “Thanks for the offer though, it makes me feel better.”
“Didn’t mean to cut myself,” Kyouhei muttered, examining the edge of his thumb where the serrated knife had dug in and where a bit of red was beginning to well up.
He was fairly indifferent to bodily injury but it was nice to take care of it right away. The boy turned to Ichimatsu and smile softly before accepting the bandage.
Kyouhei was easily surprised, yes, but he was also good at reacting quickly to unexpected situations. It was part of his military training - when something happened, you had to move.
He didn’t think that his training was meant for the day he saw someone trip so hard he nearly flung themselves, face first, onto the floor so that Kyouhei could react just in time - catching his shoulders so that he didn’t hit the ground so hard he broke their nose - that was just a bonus.
The collected moment didn’t last long, though, because he recognized this person and the shock nearly made the biochemistry student drop him, mostly out of surprise.
“Hey, aren’t you the person who spied on me that one time!?” He blurted out, still as a rock, waiting for the stranger to recover. “You thought it was strange I could sing? Wasn’t that you?”
“Ah!” Kyouhei spluttered, unsure of how to respond. He’d never? Had someone? Say anything even remotely similar to that before? It was strange, like placing himself in the song “Fight For Me” from Heathers and it was warm and strange.
“That’s fine, you don’t need to hit anyone Akira-” as flattering as that was, he didn’t want the younger to get in any sort of trouble, “there’s no need for you to be violent over me.”
Kyouhei felt a sob swell up in his throat and went to cover his eyes, tears already spilling down his cheeks. He brushed his fingers over them, wiping them over his skin continuously in order to get them to disappear.
Even with the comfort… was this really okay? He drew a bit closer to Vasco and rested a hand on his arm, needing the physical contact while he broke down over a whole bunch of little things.
“Th-thanks.” He managed to crow, his throat already tight from all his sobbing and hiccuping, a slightly embarrassed smile tugging at his lips already.
Most of the time, Kyouhei was delighted to have Mizumachi around. He was quite the energetic character, and fun on top of that - easy to get along with. The biochemist never felt like he had to put on airs.
Still, he never thought of this particular scenario - being stuck in a small space with someone large was never something he avoided because it was too strange of a notion!
Well. It had happened. Trapped in a teeny-tiny closet that (besides Mizumachi and Kyouhei) contained an abundance of cleaning supplies including but not limited to: soap, toilet paper, and three vacuums.
“Looks like we found the cleaning stuff - but who’s gonna find us?” He sighed - cramped up against Mizumachi’s side like a hip satchel of some sort. Curse his short stature.
It had seemed hopeless not five minutes ago when the posse of boy-hungry girls (women?) had descended on them, obviously going after his companion for the day - Izumi - who was a model so of course this would happen.
Still, he’d been extremely surprised (and a bit weirded out) when they started to flirt with him too, feeling as if maybe the situation was a bit much.
Chanting the phrase ‘desperate times call for desperate measures’ like a prayer mentally, Kyouhei shyly stepped away from the girls and a bit closer to Izumi, slightly flushed.
“Ah, I know you must be excited to see such a popular model-” he decided to go with ‘shy and oblivious, but anxious’ seeing as it was closer to the truth, “-but I rarely get any time with my boyfriend, do you think we could get back to our date?”
His bag was pretty durable against the rain with where he was standing, his papers were usually in a plastic folder considering that Morgana sometimes liked to hitch a ride in his bag. Good thing his cat wasn’t in his bag today.
Kyouhei could say those things but it doesn’t change the fact that if he doesn’t dry off soon, he’s highly vulnerable to catching a cold or hypothermia at the worst.
“Ah. No problem….–Torrential rain was pretty common I was from during specific seasons. They usually sell these easily stored umbrellas at convenience stores. – If you have somewhere you need to be, I could give you my umbrella.”
He decided to keep shy yet calm personality for this interaction, just to see how things went.
Determined not to remain soaking wet for much longer, Kyouhei peeled off the overcoat part of his uniform and shook it out, away from the other person hiding from the rain.
He was starting to get cold, but he wasn’t really shivering so it should be fine - he’d take a hot shower or bath when he got home and would get to sleep early and if he still got sick after that, oh well!
“Ah, izzat so -” That was interesting. The weather rarely changed where Kyouhei used to live. This was so much better.
“I have yet to update the location on my weather app so I’m a little behind.” Not that the biochemistry student really minded, sometimes the surprise was nice. “I’m in no rush to get anywhere - if you are, though, feel free to go!”
A small laugh leaves Dongmin and he shakes his head. “No problem. I figured you needed someone to bring you back.” He joked. He had seen Kyohei suffering but wasn’t sure when or how to call out to him until the young male threw up his cards in likely desperation?
“Hm… you ask a good question. Could we?” He thought about it, tilting his head to the side. The quality of the cards determined how easy or hard of a time you would have to stack all of the cards to make a castle. “Though the only way to know the answer to that is to try it out, right?” He smiled, finding the idea to be pretty amusing.
Leave it to him to just nonchalantly further the notion of moving away from one’s studies. He was more interested in having some fun, really. He handed Kyouhei some of the cards that he’d picked up. “Should we start then?”
Kyouhei can’t help but flush slightly in the face of the undeniable facts - he’d kinda lost it in the face of study-pressure. Not that it was a large breakdown, but still! He needed to pay more attention to his surroundings.
“I guess so…” After all, if it could be done with paper cups, surely index cards couldn’t be that far off. They weighed about the same, probably. The biochemist accepted more cards and brought them over to a table, head tilted slightly in contemplation.
A smile flickered onto his lips as he moved a few chairs away from an empty table with his feet and plopped down without looking. He divided all the cards into two piles and held one up to Dongmin. “Ready to get this show on the road?”
[水] - Hmmm cookies were nice, as was popcorn! Veggies and fruits? Yeaahhh sign him up! The essentials for any athletics buff! Gotta eat well and stock up on calories!
“A smoothie sounds great! A healthy snack alternative. Popcorn is great if you want to have a competition.”
A– ‘see how many popcorn pieces you can throw in the air and catch in your mouth’ competition. He was pretty good at it you know? By now Mizumachi had already long since forgotten what it was that he was supposed to do– which was doing his work. Sustenance was the most important thing on his mind now.
At this rate, it was a true wonder whether or not they were going to get any work done. Mizumachi needed to find someone like Kakei who would constantly nag him into doing his work. Boy did he miss Kakei.
“Smoothies it is~!” Kyouhei sang out, running a quick eye over all his kitchen wares while taking out the pieces of his blender and putting it together with practiced ease.
He was no master chef but smoothies and shakes were super easy, not much to mess up. First came the bananas, yogurt, and milk which he usually used as the base for the refreshing meal or snack - wait.
[水] – He’d met a lot of people in his time being a student at Oakville. People were getting lost here and there in various areas of the campus, and sometimes like Kyouhei here—they ventured quite the distance away from where they had wanted to go.
“Haha! Yeah, really. Nothing wrong with an adventure though, right? You never know what you’ll find or what friend you can make.”
Leave it to him to look on the bright side of things. This was the guy, who had dislocated his shoulder from rough-housing around too much, and could be found later trying to ‘surf’ down the hallways with the hospital beds or a wheelchair the moment someone took their eyes off him. He simply couldn’t be controlled very well.
“Ohhhhh—I don’t really get it, but it sounds real smart! Good luck, dude! I’m sure ya got this! Nhaahaa~ Yep! I wanna be a bombastic announcer!”
Just like a certain announcer back at home. That guy was so full of energy and it was always fun listening to him scream into the mic!
“See? You get it! Sometimes all you need is to walk around and see what’s there in order to find something interesting.” Kyouhei became gradually quieter as he kept talking, not wanting to draw too much attention to himself but! Still excited to talk about exploring the unknown!
“ Not that I would do it all the time, of course, I do have responsibilities, but the sentiment is still there.” His smile was wide and honest as he finished. “I’ll always be in the mood to investigate everywhere.”
It was that sweet sentimentality that would probably end up with the brunet being kidnapped (or worse) one day, but for the moment he was happy to look around with optimistic idealizations.
“It is kinda smart I guess?” Biochemistry had some complex mechanics, but Kyouhei didn’t feel as if he should comment too much on it if he wasn’t enthusiastic about it. “And you’ve got the bombastic part covered!
“You also… have the voice for it? You’re loud and attention grabbing,” realizing how that might sound, the aspiring biochemist held his hands up defensively, “not in a bad way!”
Grocery shopping was something Eita had grown accustom to in his year of living on his own. That being said, though, no matter HOW many times he ventured out, he still wasn’t all too fond of the chore. The crowds of people, the lines, spending money─ all of it was tedious, but unfortunately, it had to be done ( lest he was to starve, of course ).
At the very least, Eita pretty pretty much had a routine down for his shopping trips. He knew exactly what to get and where he needed it from, even having an order in which he trekked each isle. It made the chore tolerable enough, Eita thought. However, this particular trip, his routine was interrupted as he felt another person collide with him while he was minding his own business. How careless.
Luckily, Eita hadn’t been holding onto anything, so no real harm was done. He sighed as he was given an apology of sorts and brushed off his shirt.
“I’m fine,” he confirmed, “You should watch where you’re going.” he added, though no hostility was intended. Looking at the boy, Eita could recall him staring at the shelves just as he’d arrived in the isle himself. Eita raised a brow, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Do you need help finding something? You look a little lost.” Eita commented. It really wasn’t any of his business and he wasn’t even a worker, but it didn’t hurt to ask.
“You’re right, you’re right, sorry about that!” Kyouhei felt a little humbled by the serious tone and appearance of the person he’d bumped into, mentally forcing himself to promise to pay more attention next time. “Won’t happen again.”
He adjusted the shopping basket on his one arm so it sat comfortably in the crook of his elbow, trying to regain his composure - hard to do when he was so out of it.
Surprised by the question, the brunet couldn’t help but smile sheepishly.
“I’m just… trying to find something I recognize? The reason I bumped into you as because I as trying to check the upper shelves.” He probably sounded really ignorant, not that it mattered at this point. “Ah, do you have any brands to suggest?”
[水] - Mizumachi laughed at his joke and was playing along with Kyouhei. Always good and fun to play with other people, right? It was much more fun to just laugh along with people than to fight against it. He personally enjoyed being happy at almost all hours of the day.
“Hm? Nahhh not really that obvious, it was just a guess. I just meet a lot of people who move here from elsewhere. Local people can get lost too, ya know?”
Just because they were locals, it didn’t mean they had to know their way around every campus, but just something about Kyouhei made him seem like he wasn’t around from these parts. Not sure what.
“Bio…whatywhat? Sounds real complicated and smart. I’m a sports communications major. I wanna be like those sports announcers, ya know?”
Just shouting plays into the microphone, telling the audience an enthusiastic play by play to help them feel more involved in the plays.
“Really?” Kyohei wondered if anyone else had gone to Mizumachi for help - honestly, it wouldn’t be a surprise seeing as the sportsman seemed to ooze a friendly, approachable aura.
Still, it was a weird concept, thinking that other people explored and became lost just like him, but when he thought about it…. he couldn’t be the only unfortunate person around, right?
“Chemistry. It’s a science… the science of chemical and physicochemical responses. It is really complicated,” but not so once you got the theories down, or so his professor had assured.
“Sports Communications… huh, that sounds really interesting! I can totally see you as an announcer at a game, directing everyone’s attention and explaining what’s going down…!”
Dongmin only chuckled in response, finding the reaction to be pretty humorous. It reminded him of his friend ‘Ju Ingong’ whose name translated would mean ‘main character’. Funny, right? “My name is Dongmin, what’s your name?” He asked as he got out of the chair that he was currently sitting at to start picking up some of the cards.
He was a bit curious as to what it was that he was studying that made him just rage quit and throw up his cards in the air in defeat. “With this many cards, you could probably make a card castle.” The final resort to anyone bored enough or absolutely through with studying. Turn your study materials into play things.
“Kyouhei. Thank you for bringing me back into reality, Dongmin.” Mid-introductions, the brunet joined the boy who called him out on his act of brief insanity and began to collect the index cards in one hand.
He perked up a bit at the idea of stacking cards - it would be easier with an actual deck of playing cards but with some patience and determination, it could probably be done?
“Do you think we could…? There are plenty of empty, flat surfaces around for it, I guess.” And it wasn’t like his mind would allow him to do anything else now that it was done with theory. Experimentally, he bent a card between two fingers.
Yoichi slowly chewed his sandwich as he watched the younger man make a desperate attempt to open the door to the dormitories. His patrol had taken him out to Oakville University, which usually had something going on to keep him entertained. It was just a little past midnight and it seemed the poor kid had lost his keys to the dorm.
He finished off his late dinner and clapped his hands together to get rid of the bread dust before standing up. He’d let the poor guy suffer long enough, and he had another 7 minutes and forty-three seconds until his break was up. Yoichi slowly made his way towards the poor, locked-out college student; he yawned as he approached the other from behind and placed one hand on his hip using the other to cover his mouth.
“Having some issues, hmm?” He dropped his hand to his side and eyed the door. The lock looked simple enough, but he didn’t expect this kid to be looking at the issue the same way he was. “Did you lose your key or something?” Reaching for his flashlight, he clicked it on and swung the beam in a wide arc around the nearby grass.
“I can help you find it. Or I can open the door for you if you ask in the next,” he looked at his watch, “five minutes and twenty-seven seconds.”
When Kyouhei was a little kid, he would’ve lost his head if his neck wasn’t attaching it to his shoulders. It was a well-known fact - you never trusted toddler Kyouhei with anything important.
Fortunately, he grew out of it by age twelve or so.
Unfortunately, it was Throwback Thursday and he might’ve misplaced one of the most important items he owned. It was way too late to backtrack to find them too, and mentally he’d already given up.
“I think I left it at work?” He still peered in the direction the light revealed, hoping it would magically appear on the ground somewhere. No such luck. “Or maybe I dropped it on the way here….”
Either way, it was terrible and unlucky.
Curiosity made him peer up at the person offering their help in a professional manner, his interest mostly focused on the offer to open his dorm’s door within a certain time frame.
“Who are you, actually? Not that I don’t appreciate the help of course….”
[Big ol’ heads up to anyone interested (since I just answered a butt-load of rp meme asks):
I’m totally fine with turning an answered ask into a thread - in fact, I encourage it! Take my asks and upgrade ‘em! And I’m always up for plotting if you wanna do that!]