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[ u didnt specify so u are getting tasks by which i mean!!!! it's tuesday afternoon and ichiro's in the game room today after his classes, sprawled out in one of the big gaming chairs and playing what looks like a side scroller casually. are they both hanging out? who knows. leo's there now. ]
Hey, man, have you finished out all of those tasks yet? [ a fucking nerd who does his homework ]
Hey, man, have you finished out all of those tasks yet? [ a fucking nerd who does his homework ]
[ leo's probably playing a different game on a different screen or maybe three at once it's fine ]
Dude, it's only Tuesday. I haven't even started yet.
[ nerd alert NERD ALERT ]
Dude, it's only Tuesday. I haven't even started yet.
[ nerd alert NERD ALERT ]
Did you miss my entry in the student directory? I'm better at talking to automatons and magic furniture than people.
[ and yet he seems to be doing okay? funny how that works. ]
But sure, if it means we win. [ WINTER SUPREMACY. ] Tell me about your hopes for the future, I guess?
[ and yet he seems to be doing okay? funny how that works. ]
But sure, if it means we win. [ WINTER SUPREMACY. ] Tell me about your hopes for the future, I guess?
Doesn't look like you're having a problem to me. [ just sayin!!!! ] Besides, I think we're supposed to take those things with a grain of salt. Lot of people ran into issues with theirs.
[ he just got lucky because i can't be mean to ichiro actually
anyway. ]
You want my hopes for the future at home, or for here? For here, it's winning the Dorm War and going home smarter and better for my bros.
[ he just got lucky because i can't be mean to ichiro actually
anyway. ]
You want my hopes for the future at home, or for here? For here, it's winning the Dorm War and going home smarter and better for my bros.
I wouldn't say mine is wrong.
[ hm? not going to explain that? okay. ]
I think winning and getting home is everyone's goal for this place, dude. Are you seriously planning to study with these weird classes?
[ hm? not going to explain that? okay. ]
I think winning and getting home is everyone's goal for this place, dude. Are you seriously planning to study with these weird classes?
I mean, the open enrollment ones are weird, but I'm taking a class on figure collecting - and one on business owning, too. That's pretty helpful to me back home.
[ with a grin!! ] Besides, it's kind of a bonding experience. At least, the Cats one was. It was so bad, I feel like I got closer with everybody in the room. Haha.
[ with a grin!! ] Besides, it's kind of a bonding experience. At least, the Cats one was. It was so bad, I feel like I got closer with everybody in the room. Haha.
Okay, business owning I get, but figure collecting? Who needs a class for that? What do you even study - how to keep them from getting dusty?
That bad, huh? In that case, maybe I should grab a copy. [ read: bootleg it ] Maybe the key to convincing Gaea not to wake up was just really bad cinema all along!
That bad, huh? In that case, maybe I should grab a copy. [ read: bootleg it ] Maybe the key to convincing Gaea not to wake up was just really bad cinema all along!
I was, but it still doesn't give us much to work with. But maybe if we can take it apart...
[ he pauses. blinks at ichiro. ]
Yeah? And?
[ what's the problem ]
Yeah? And?
[ what's the problem ]
Not yet, but I'm going to talk to Vi about it soon. Might as well see what we've got to work with in the meantime, though, right?
[ well!!!
about an hour or so after the trial ends, ichiro makes his way back into the dorm. he's got his hood up, and is walking with his hand cradled kind of close to his chest, and he just quickly goes off into the suite where his stuff is.
when he comes back into the main area, it's with his first aid kit, and he sits down with a roll of bandages and the little scissors inside, moving his right hand back down into view of a curious passerby - his knuckles are scraped and bloody. ]
about an hour or so after the trial ends, ichiro makes his way back into the dorm. he's got his hood up, and is walking with his hand cradled kind of close to his chest, and he just quickly goes off into the suite where his stuff is.
when he comes back into the main area, it's with his first aid kit, and he sits down with a roll of bandages and the little scissors inside, moving his right hand back down into view of a curious passerby - his knuckles are scraped and bloody. ]
[ ah. leo is so tired. ]
What did you hit? [ ...oh also: ] Do you need help?
What did you hit? [ ...oh also: ] Do you need help?
[ leo just gets a dorm starter because it's winter dorm! so. ichiro's here this fine afternoon, sitting at the common room with a notebook in front of him. it looks like he's doing homework? what a nerd...
hearing leo come in, though, he gives him a sup nod. ] Hey, dude.
hearing leo come in, though, he gives him a sup nod. ] Hey, dude.
Hey. You aren't seriously doing homework, are you? Or are you taking notes on everything else?
You really are a nerd.
[ as if he's one to talk. buuuut he's flopping next to ichiro, pulling out some paperclips to play with. ]
Dare I ask what you're getting out of "Stylistic Running and Its Benefits?"
[ as if he's one to talk. buuuut he's flopping next to ichiro, pulling out some paperclips to play with. ]
Dare I ask what you're getting out of "Stylistic Running and Its Benefits?"
Oh. New styles of running and their benefits...?
[ don't be a shit. he laughs, though, letting him flop down without much trouble! what a nice light hearted moment for a memory share.
[ don't be a shit. he laughs, though, letting him flop down without much trouble! what a nice light hearted moment for a memory share.
at fourteen years old, you live in an orphanage. you've lived in one since the war, since your mother died, and your dad -- well. you're the only person who knows what happened with that, and it eats at you, makes you angry. you've never been any good at holding onto your temper, and it threads into your interactions with everyone. good, bad, positive, negative. you're just an angry, angry kid.
...even still, you try and do what you can, for your two little brothers, for the people around you. this orphanage is temporary. you've thought it since you came here, stubbornly tried to argue that you should be allowed to just care for jiro and saburo, but you're only fourteen years old, but director tamotsu, the head of the orphanage, is the one to remind you that laws exist for a reason, and you're brought into the care of the orphanage like a child, too. you hate that, and the resentment buries under the surface of your every action, but you keep it down. it's just temporary. it's just temporary.
one day, you catch bill collectors outside of the orphanage on your way home from school, and it eats at you in ways that nothing else has. your brothers like the orphanage. they like the director - he's an old, tottering kind of guy, but he's kind to them, and he's kind to you, and you feel your blood boil when the bill collectors - the loan sharks - threaten director tamotsu, try to hassle him into paying his interest faster or else, they're gonna make him pay for it - and when you bring it up to him while you're helping with the dishes that night, he apologizes to you.
you ask if the orphanage is low on money. he gives you an answer.
...and ultimately, you make your decision. you have your strength, like you've always said. if you have nothing else, you have that. so you lie about your age, you fake a document to say that you're sixteen - because you're tall for your age, tall and strong, always looking older than you were - and you start working at a construction site. it's hard work, but being busy makes you happy. it keeps you energetic, and your manager praises you for it, promising a raise, so you work your hardest and try to come up with ways to sneak the money to director tamotsu. you've got your strength. you give your brothers money to pay for their textbooks at school, and it's money you earned, and they smile at you, and your entire world feels okay.
one day, you're on break at the construction site with one of your buddies, an older guy who's taken you under his wing, when two men drive up in a big black suv with tinted windows. they're both shady looking as hell, and your coworker swears under his breath and pushes up to his feet.
everything starts happening really fast.
the shady guys step up and start yelling. hey! you had until today to pay up! where's our money, punk?! and your coworker starts apologizing, "i'm sorry, i'm sorry, i just need a little more time!" but his pleas fall on deaf ears, because the two shady men almost immediately start delivering a beatdown. one punches your coworker across the face, and the other comes up and starts stomping on him, while you coworker screams and apologizes and your blood boils. at fourteen years old, you grab one of the shady men's shoulders and pull, hard. i have strength, you have courage, and you are not just gonna watch this happen. ] Hey! Two against one, what the hell's wrong with you?!
[ step off! this's got nothing to do with you, kid! the man shouts at you, and you, by now, know what it feels like when your temper snaps, because you see red. you shout back and curl your hands into fists. ] If you want him, you're gonna have to get through me first!
[ the two men stop beating up your coworker. they look at each other. they look at you, and one of the smirks, and you don't fucking care, because you hate people like this. you fucking hate them, you can't stand people who pick on the weak. one of the men jerks his head up. show off, you think you're tough, huh? you're gonna get it! and then rushes you.
your temper acts before your words do, because you duck the man's punch and send an uppercut into his jaw, and hard. the shady guy goes flying backwards, making a shocked noise, and the second one turns on a dime and starts rushing you, too. two on one on you, even - unfair, fucking bullshit, you are not going to let them get away with this, people like this don't even deserve to fucking live, and you whirl back and roundhouse kick him in the stomach. he makes a choked off noise and hits the ground. the fight continues - a knockdown, dragout fight, but you put them both in their place, and you're whaling on the first guy, punching him in the nose until you think you feel it break under your knuckles, when you're interrupted by a voice.
a man steps out of the car the other shady guys got out of and introduces himself.
the man, mozuku, makes you an offer. he wants you to work for him -- he's a loan shark, just like those two guys were. the sense of justice in you coils up at the offer, and mozuku doesn't seem to mind being rebuffed. he just takes out a thin little envelope, and holds it out to you.
here. a down payment. 500,000 yen.
you have never seen this much money, in your entire life. you suddenly think back to the director, struggling with the bill collectors, and your eyes go wide.
mozuku smiles. i am no miser towards those talented souls who catch my eye. you can keep the money. and he hands you his business card. contact me, when you've made your decision.
you take the money home, and you pocket the card, and you tell yourself, yeah right, asshole, no chance. you give it to the director, who looks stunned, and then thanks you profusely, and you think it's going to end there.
but then, you find out jiro got in a fight at school. he explains why to the director while you're standing there - he says that the kids at school were making fun of director tamotsu and the orphanage, calling him broke. the director always works hard for them, jiro says, and your heart aches, because you see so much of yourself in him, that same angry, angry kid.
you make your way upstairs, thinking about the state of the orphanage. about the state of your lives.
you look at the business card.
you think about jiro's small, bandaged face, his determination, his shame.
you pick up your cellphone, and call mozuku, and you agree to take his job - beating the shit out of people who can't pay their loans, because you're not going to let your little brothers have to feel the same rage that you always do. because you can fix this. and if you have to do a dirty job or two to fix it, then you will. ]
[ at first, leo sits in stunned silence. the memory thing - it keeps catching him off guard, every time.
a moment later, he breathes out a slow exhale. ]
You’d really do anything for your brothers, huh? They’re lucky to have family like you.
[ what's it like, having a family who cares? ]
a moment later, he breathes out a slow exhale. ]
You’d really do anything for your brothers, huh? They’re lucky to have family like you.
[ what's it like, having a family who cares? ]
[ this isn't the first time ichiro's seen this memory this week, at least, so it doesn't throw him too badly. it's so strange, watching this part of his life in slow motion, knowing what happens next.
leo's comment pulls him back in, though and he ducks his head, deflecting it a little bit. ]
I just did what I had to do. It's not - [ ... ] That kind of work isn't something to be proud of.
leo's comment pulls him back in, though and he ducks his head, deflecting it a little bit. ]
I just did what I had to do. It's not - [ ... ] That kind of work isn't something to be proud of.
It’s less that and more doing whatever you can for your family. Gods know that’s still leagues better than mine would do. At least you care.
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