savetheearth | action ❀ we are in no way, shape, or form in the romance section (open)

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action ❀ we are in no way, shape, or form in the romance section (open)

[ Finally, a few hours to himself.

Toshi hasn't managed to keep up with any of the strange things going on in the city, largely due to his demanding work schedule. For some reason there was a huge upswing in delivery demands the last few days, primarily things like household goods and groceries, so he's been working ten, eleven hour shifts all week.

It's finally calmed down a little, and he takes the opportunity to relax a little in the library. He can't get any privacy at home, so when he needs space this is basically the only place he has to go.

He waves awkwardly at the staff that he's become a familiar face to, then vanishes into the far back. He picks out a few nonfiction titles on electrical wiring, plumbing, and constellations, then grabs a few mystery novels before heading to find a couch to curl up on. His uncle doesn't exactly make the kindest comments on his hobbies, so he tries not to bring any of this crap home with him.

He's exhausted. He nearly melts bonelessly into the couch once he gets to it, not even moving to open a book for the first few minutes. Everything's sore. He fumbles for the book on constellations finally, figuring he'll give himself a few minutes of staring vacantly at star charts before doing any real reading. ]

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[That couch, as luck would have it, is right next to the philosophy works. And although Hajime - who's been getting one of his general ed requirements out of the way this semester with Intro to Ethics - normally likes to pick up his own copies of the supplemental and optional readings, so he can highlight and take notes in the margins without guilt...

...well, there's only so long a guy can wait for something on back order before he has to admit defeat and find another copy if he wants to have it read it in time.

Though he hears someone sinking onto one of the couches behind him, he doesn't think anything of it for a moment, still absorbed in double-checking what's on the shelf, but after he finally retrieves what he's looking for and turns -

- hey, he knows that face.]

[ After a few minutes of thumbing through the pages of his book on constellations, Toshi absently sets it off to one side before going to loosen a few buttons on his shirt. He didn't exactly go home to change after work, so his clothe are feeling just slightly suffocating about now. As he's doing that, he manages to notice a similarly familiar face peering at him.

He blinks, sitting up a little straighter in surprise. ]

--Hajime? What are you doing out so late...?

I need this for class next week, and the bookstore still hasn't gotten my copy in, so...

[Though it doesn't really explain the late part. Really, he'd meant to wait for tomorrow, but sometimes after taking a look at all those conversations on the network, at the speculation and the strangeness and the fact that they were still utterly clueless as to what was really going on...

Eventually he'd reached the conclusion that he should probably stop staring at it for a while and take a walk to clear his head. He might as well make something productive of it while he was out.]

Don't you have that really early class though?

[ A frown lights upon Hijikata's lips as he tries to read that expression on Hajime's face, getting this strange feeling that the younger man is holding something back from him. He doesn't know why he should think such a thing, though, as the pair of them are probably casual acquaintances at best.

It's probably just been a long day. Bad mood, that sort of thing. Looking for things when they aren't there. He shakes his head and offers Hajime something of an apologetic sort of smile. ]

...sorry, none of my business.

There's nothing to apologize for.

[It's a fair question, as far as he's concerned. Because he does have that class, so he'd usually be in by this time, but...

...but that's a lot of weird stuff he probably shouldn't be discussing with anyone. He steps away from the shelf, book in hand, and takes a seat across from Toshi. There's still the small talk. God knows he could use that distraction right now.]

I hope Souji didn't give you too much trouble today?

Yeah, keep hoping. [ Toshi rolls his eyes a little at that, trying to think up a time when Souji didn't go around complicating every waking moment of his life. The memories are there, but they're quickly growing dim. ]

...I sent him home early. I know he's probably not fucking going to anyway, but I'm pretty sure he has schoolwork and shit to do.

[ While Toshi is a little worried about keeping Hajime out even further past his bedtime on a school night, he figures-- He figures a couple minutes of small talk can't hurt. It's been a while since he ran into Hajime, and--

...

And these talks are nice. Maybe that makes Toshi a loser, but hey. Tell him something he doesn't know. ]

[Well, that...sounds about right. Sigh.

There's something that looks a little off to him as he looks at Toshi, though, and after a moment, Hajime finds himself leaning forward, peering at the other man's neck. He's never...paid a great deal attention to his neck, exactly, but he feels pretty sure that scar wasn't there fairly recently.

Then he catches himself and realizes that he's leaning forward and staring and - where are his manners? He quickly straightens up in his seat again.

Still.

With as strange of things as have been happening lately...]

I don't mean to pry, but did something... [He gestures vaguely at Toshi's neck.] ...happen?

Er--

[ That catches Toshi off-guard, and his eyes go briefly wide as his hand moves to touch the scar in question. It still startles Toshi a little every time his fingers brush against it, both the feeling of the scar itself unfamiliar to him as well as the strange, tingling sensation of the skin around it. ]

I-- Um--

[ Precisely because it's still such a strange and foreign thing to him, it didn't even occur to him to keep it covered up when he was loosening his collar earlier, and--

Well, fuck. He's been trying so hard to ignore his magically appearing scars that he has no actual sane-sounding explanation prepared. ]

I...

I don't really know. [ He laughs nervously at that, not knowing what else to do. ]

Is that crazy? It's crazy.

[There's a spark of - something, in Hajime's gaze. Recognition? Interest?

Whatever it is, it certainly isn't a spark of yes, you are a goddamned nutjob.]

Is that...the only crazy thing that's turned up recently?

[ Toshi isn't exactly sure he's not reading 'stay away from me you psychopath' in Hajime's eyes, but it's a better response than he was expecting so, you know. This guy takes what he can get.

That question, though...

He rubs the back of his neck a little, giving Hajime a slightly conflicted look. ]

Well-- I guess so. I mean, it's... not the only scar, but. It was a one-time crazy thing.

[A one-time crazy thing.

On one hand, Hajime highly doubts it'll remain a one-time crazy thing. Scars from nowhere - it sounds right up there with strange, random memories. With the people who've found things, noticed changes.

And they've already had the discussion about not telling anybody else unless they're sure they're involved, and maybe if he doesn't say anything, it follows that something else will come up sooner or later, or Toshi will finally cave and write that number down somewhere, like Hajime did - that he'll stumble into the rest of it on his own, and that it's better not to take the chance (however slight) that this is...something else entirely.

But if Toshi doesn't know about all of this, to keep it under wraps...and if he admits something to the wrong person before he knows?

All Hajime can think about for a moment is seeing that boy shot on the network. Seeing the news the next day, hearing that his whole family died in an "accident."

(He's trying not to think about what else came to him with that.)

It's enough to make up his mind.]

...was there a number?

A--

[ Toshi jerks back as though physically struck by the question, blinking his eyes at Hajime in shock. He-- ]

How did you know...?

[ Because of all the strange things that followed the day he had that fight with Souji, there's nothing he's tried to bury more than that number. Because as crazy as the suddenly-appearing scars feel, at least other people see those. At least they exist in some physical sense. At least in that way he can think that maybe whatever is wrong with him is limited to some kind of fucked-up lapse in memory.

That number, though. That's all inside his head, and the fact that it keeps popping up no matter how much he tries to forget makes him feel like he's really going out of his mind. ]

[That settles that.]

...because it isn't just you.

[But after a moment, Hajime glances around. There are plenty of good reasons not to have this conversation where someone else might hear it - and as luck would have it, one of the group study rooms a short distance away is currently empty. He tilts his head in that direction.]

We should take this somewhere else.

[ With anyone else Toshi would just consider them as wacky as he feels, but--

It's something about the way Hajime looks at him. Something in his serious, reserved mannerisms and his respectful way about the world even when addressing people who have done nothing to deserve it. Maybe they're not that close, and maybe they're not even friends, but Toshi trusts Hajime all the same. He leaves his books behind and stands, following Hajime to the study room in question. Once the door is shut behind them, he takes a spot leaning against the wall as he's much too agitated to sit. He'd like a smoke, actually, but this being a library and all... ]

Okay, explain. 'It's not just me'...?

[It wouldn't feel right to sit while Toshi is standing, so Hajime doesn't take a seat either.]

I don't know how many of us there are, altogether, but there are others who've had...strange experiences, lately. The number will let you talk to everyone else who has one - I don't know how it works, but if you write it down or type it out, it doesn't seem to matter where, then you'll see what I mean.

[Which sounds totally fucking crazy. He knows. He knows!]

[ Well, there's no time for Toshi quite like the present so he eyes Hajime skeptically for a second before he heaves a sigh and pulls a pen out of his pocket. He's got a scrap of receipt from getting gas today, and he uses that to scribble his number down-- ]

...what the fuck.

[ It's official. He's officially hallucinating. ]

I swear I'll never go a week on four hours of sleep again. You're probably not even really here. I'm definitely just insane.

It would be simpler if that were the case.

[God knows he'd been tempted to write it all off as some kind of delusion at first, and especially with what had greeted him the first time he tried the number out. But it was exactly what he'd found that made it imperative that he keep going, instead of giving Toshi the chance to go sleep on it and digest.]

...I doubt you would, anyway, but you can't tell anyone about this. Anyone.

You don't have to tell me that twice. As restful as an psych ward sounds--

[ Toshi reaches up to massage his temples again, thinking he might have to step out for a cigarette before long. He tears up the receipt and stuffs the scraps in his pocket. He's not quite understanding what Hajime is getting at, but it's all a bit much to take in. ]

It's worse than that.

[There's a snap to his voice that usually isn't there, and he almost looks a bit sheepish himself once it's out, but - it's important, this isn't really a time to apologize for being rude.]

...the first time I tried my number, I saw a boy get shot by the police for trying to go to them about - everything that's going on. Did you see that house fire in the news last week?

--what?

[ Well, Toshi's facial muscles are getting a workout at least. This time his eyes go wide in shock. ]

No, I've-- ...been working.

[ As Hajime might be able to tell from the bags under Toshi's eyes. He hasn't exactly had time for TV. Or shaving. Or sleep. ]

...

Okay, start again from the beginning. Tell me everything you know.

[Yeah, he probably...isn't really taking this in the right order, is he? Deep breath.]

I got my number a couple of months ago. I didn't get scars, like you, but...

[He holds up his right hand. The one with a wrist brace on it, that's been there for a while? Yep.]

I...can't really write with my right hand anymore. I don't know how, but it's as if I became left-handed overnight.

[Clearly, faking an injury was better than trying to explain that one to everyone he knows.]

A couple months ago...

[ It's been roughly that long for Toshi too, and he absently fingers the scar on his neck. ]

Was there some kind of... trigger? [ Toshi inquires this lightly, remembering how at the exact moment Souji threw him up against that wall, he felt the pain of the scars reappearing. Hajime and Toshi are suffering from completely different afflictions, but the root cause seems to be stemming from the same place so...

God dammit, there is just so much to wrap his head around. He's beginning to feel a headache coming on. ]

[He's thought about that more than a few times, and although the timing matches up, he still can't imagine what it would have to do it.

Still, it's not like he can imagine how any of the rest of this could possibly be real, and yet it's been staring him in the face.]

It was my birthday. I'm not positive, but I think it was after I hit Souji with a wrapping paper tube.

[Or at least, he'd been writing fine with the right earlier that day, and had found some trouble after Souji had finally gone home.]

It was your birthday? --Happy belated birthday, Hajime. You should've said something.

[ There's a chiding note in Toshi's tone as he speaks, and he's not even sure why he decides to voice that out loud except, well. Seems like they're all a bit short on normalcy in here, so he might as well make an attempt to fill the deficit. ]

...

Wait, you said Souji hit you?

[ That gets a frown out of Toshi as he wonders for a moment if this mess can't be all blamed on Souji.

...probably not, he decides before long. It's too damn bad. Stupid and infuriating as the kid might be, Souji's nowhere near this kind of mastermind. It's still an odd thing, though. Uncanny almost. ]

That's funny. Mine happened after Souji threw me up against a wall. I wonder if that means anything.

[ ~~And it does. It means Souji is and has always been a total dick to his friends.~~ ]

[There's the briefest flash of a smile on his face as he nods in acknowledgement of that, though it doesn't last long before he's back to looking thoughtful again.]

I know that everyone else with a number had something happen, but I'm sure they don't all know Souji.

[As nice as it would be to think that there was some obvious connection...from what people have chosen to reveal so far, he hasn't been able to see one at all.

Maybe he's getting a little too far ahead, though. He was telling it in order. Right.]

- I ignored it, for a while, but about a week ago while I was making dinner, I went to make a note on the recipe, and I just...wrote it down, in spite of myself.

I'm still not convinced it doesn't mean anything.

[ Toshi mutters this, then goes back to listening to Hajime's story, nodding as he imagines he knows what happened after Hajime scribbled down that number. He just experienced it himself, after all. ]

And that's when you saw that kid get killed?

Yes.

[For a moment, he almost seems like he's going to say more -

- but then he stops. The memory that came with it...isn't really something he's sure he wants to discuss with anyone, and while it's surely relevant somehow (because he'd really rather not think he remembered dying for no good reason), it's...not entirely relevant to explaining what's happening. There are enough examples.

Better to move on.]

They said something about an invasion, before they shot him. The next day the news said his entire family was killed in a house fire. Nobody's really sure what's going on, but just knowing that something is going on is enough to put you in danger.

His entire--

[ Of course Toshi intends to look into it himself when he has some time later, but he feels like he can take Hajime's word at the moment. It's... heavy stuff, though, and Toshi pulls a cigarette out just to roll it between his fingers. It's always been a nervous habit of his; when he was a kid he'd do it with pencils. He just feels like he should be holding something when he's feeling insecure or unsure.

He taps the filter against his palm, trying to think. ]

Anything happen since then?

...there were animals acting strangely. Small ones, but they were swarming, hanging around people's homes...and they were off. Birds with teeth, rats with thumbs, things like that.

[The more he explains, the more he has this bizarre feeling that they've done this before, that him reporting on strange things to Toshirou is a completely part of the natural order of things.

He pushes that thought to the side and continues.]

Some of us had a meeting in person to try and deal with them - figure out where they were coming from, or...something.

Lyall comes out of the mythology section right in front of Toshi's couch, laden with about four large books, aiming for the little table not far from said couch. He doesn't notice the young man immediately, setting his load down and pulling out his reading glasses so he can flip through and see if any of them might be useful.

Gotta find out more about that snake thing, and even though he'd already told his students to research it, he needs something to keep his mind off the afternoon he's had.

At first Toshi doesn't even pay the other man any mind, preoccupied with his own things and too damn exhausted to go dividing his attention up any more than he already has. Eventually he does look up, however, just to rest his eyes and--

He blinks.

"Mr-- Mr. Lyall? Is that you...?"

It's been something like ten years, so he's not sure if he can trust his eyes.

Hearing his name from someone he doesn't recognize immediately was actually getting more and more common, these days, as Lyall collected himself a growing body of former students. He looked up at his name, blinking over the tops of his reading glasses, and offered the brunette a little smile. "That'd be me."

The voice did sound familiar, and the face looked like one he must have known, but he couldn't pull up a name immediately. Something came to him about guilt, but he couldn't put a feeling on why. "You might need to refresh my memory, though...."

Well, this is awkward. He probably shouldn't have even spoken up. Who the hell talks to their old science teacher? Toshi can't even remember what kind of science the guy taught him back when. But he did speak up, so he can't just drop the conversation now.

"Er... Tony. Tony Katase?" At least back then, Toshi went by his American name more often than anything else.

"I was in your class like a decade ago, so I wouldn't worry about remembering. I was just, uh, surprised to see you."

Surprisingly enough, a lot of people did. Lyall looked blank for a moment, as he went back-- but it fell into place more quickly than it might have with others and he went from blank to surprised after only a couple seconds. "Tony-- Tony? Toshirou?" Hey, he remembered the Japanese name, too, anyway. Considering the number of Japanese names in this city, he was as used to those as anything else, really.

He also remembered that the boy was in one of his first classes, and he'd been confused and no little guilty when he'd dropped out so suddenly. Tony had been a bright student, he thought.

For a few moments Toshi isn't even able to reply back, too caught off-guard and surprised that his old teacher not only remembers him, but in fact can even remember his given name. He startles himself by going so far as to turn a little pink, rubbing at his cheeks self-consciously as he struggles to find the words.

"Yeah, that's me. That's some memory you've got there, Mr. Lyall," he offers with an awkward, nervous-sounding laugh. "How've you been? Still teaching ungrateful, pimple-faced brats?"

"It's hard to forget your first drop-out," Lyall admitted sheepishly, offering a small smile. "I am still teaching, though, still at the high school. Nothing much has changed, except I might be a bit less easy to walk all over with a few more years behind me."

More important question: "How have you been? What have you been up to, all this time? Ever manage to graduate?" Of course the teacher would ask that.

Well, that stings a little. Toshi blinks a few times as he absorbs the information that he holds the dubious honor of being Lyall's first drop out, though he's always known on some level that their school doesn't get many of those. And then there's the matter of tackling that next question, which--

Is really none of the old man's fucking business. Toshi can't quite help the rather defensive scowl on his face as he rubs the back of his neck, glancing off to one side.

"...working. Just working."

Hopefully from that Lyall can infer on his own that no, Toshi never went back to school again.

Yep, Randall Lyall is not the most tactful person in the world: his canon self would be appalled. Though he at least means well, and hadn't meant the comment about drop-outs as an insult, just an explanation. His eager curiosity turned into a wince at the look on Toshi's face.

"Sorry, I guess that isn't really that important." It was just such a waste. The boy was bright, he remembered that much. "But you're doing well? Where do you work, if you don't mind my asking?"

There are few things Toshi hates more than having to talk about his life and what an abject disappointment it's been as far as society is concerned. Unfortunately this is also one of those few times when saying that he does mind and pleading the fifth would really just make him sound like some kind of male prostitute drug dealer.

So he just sighs, rubbing his eyes a little as he sinks down in his seat.

"My uncle's shipping company. It's not a Fortune 500 or anything but it pays the bills so whatever." He gives a shrug. "I'm sure I'll make a great cautionary tale for your kids come Monday."

Edited (...REDUNDANCY, MY ARCH NEMESIS.) 2013-04-15 16:28 (UTC)

"There's nothing cautionary about working in shipping," Lyall protests-- a little weakly, since he knew Tony-- Toshi-- whatever he went by now-- could do so much better than that-- but he still means well. And paying the bills is important. "Work is work, especially these days."

He's just digging himself deeper, isn't he?

"But I'm not in the habit of talking about former students with current ones, anyway, if that makes you feel better," he adds sheepishly. Which is not precisely true, as he has rather more of them interacting these days than he'd expect, but that's a... very unusual circumstance.

[ It's late, and Banagher is just finishing up some last minute straightening so he can go home and leave the procrastinators and late-nighters to their procrastination and otherwise late-night business. Usually thorough and patient, he's instead loaded up a cart to capacity (and then some) with inbound books and lugged it up to the library's second level. Given the amount of weirdness that ensued after the appearance of the network—and what happened on it—he no longer feels like walking home at night is particularly safe, and wants to cut his time short.

Parking the trolley in an awkward wedge of space by a corner guard rail overlooking an isolated lounge below, Banagher is shuffling titles into their spots when a rogue book tips from a top shelf, causing him to leap back to avoid catching it with his face.

What he does is knock a precarious stack of books from the trolley with his elbow, watching the topmost one slip, slide aaaand over the guard rail it goes... ]

Ah—watch out!

[ ...Is the best he can do when he catches the rail to keep himself from teetering over in an attempt to chase it. And hope he's just talking to an empty space on the couches situated below but oh god he isn't there is definitely a person there please move in time! ]

[ Except the person sitting on the couch trying to get some rest after a long, hard day at work doesn't move in time, because hearing 'watch out' shouted in an otherwise quiet library really only elicits one sort of psychological response.

Toshi looks up.

Just in time to personally catch Banagher's book in the face. ]

Ow! Son of bitch--

[ ...

It takes him a moment to process it all. The burst of pain. The book dropping into his lap. That voice calling out that laughably inadequate warning.

Banagher.

He snatches the offending book up in one hand, jumping to his feet. ]

Banagher Links! What the hell was that?! If you're going to try to kill me, at least face me like a man!

[ ...That book

Definitely just clocked him in the head. Clocked Toshirou in the head.

This is the actual worst case scenario.

And somehow, the situation isn't even any better knowing that he's basically just thrown a book at someone he knows. Embarrassment burns all the way up to the tips of his ears and if it weren't for the fact that he's already been called out on it, he would have tried to just quietly chameleon away into the shelves. ]

It—it fell off by accident! Obviously I'm not trying to kill you!

[ So of course he does the smart thing and yells back. ]

[ Toshi just wants to know what kind of fucking luck he has if a stray book pitched blindly from the second floor of the library can hit him full on in the face.

If he has a black eye tomorrow, he's going to find Banagher and giving him one to match. (Except not really, these days Toshi mostly talks a big game. To himself. Alone. In his tiny sparsely furnished bedroom.) ]

By accident?! What the f-- [ Dammit, they're in a public library. Toshi manages to choke himself off, then takes a deep breath before continuing. ]

They pay you to endanger people's lives like that, Banagher? What if I'd been someone's toddler?

--Are you going to come down from there??

[ The kind of luck you garner being acquaintances with him. Which is to say, terrible. ]

I was in a hurry, okay! My elbow nudged it by mistake, so...! [ Banagher lowers his voice to something of a distressed whisper, not thinking to try and keep cowering behind the railing. No point since he was caught red-handed and Toshirou actually hadn't stalked up after him to breathe flame all over the place. Instead... ]

Stop yelling, and I'll come down.

[ That's what he says even when he's breaking away from the book trolley to do so anyway. ]

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action ❀ we are in no way, shape, or form in the romance section (open)

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...sorry for this, assume or unassume cr as you will while i faceinhands

why is your face always in your hands kou r u ok

i'm never ok

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