(open) if you don't want to, i can live with that

[jokey]

Whomst: akira and you~ ✨
What: akira wandering around doing akira things
Where: various places around campus
When: late january
Warnings: none, will update as necessary

i. CHATTY CATTIES

[The resident cats seem familiar, their toe beans pleasantly plump beneath his thumb and their fur silky soft... but something is off. Something doesn't feel quite right, and it's neither their beans nor their silky soft fur, so what could it be?

Stooped in the hallway, Akira turns to the black cat and shakes his head.]

I could've sworn you had a name. [Akira taps his chin, brows scrunched up in thought.] ...Miyuki? No. Morris?

[Akira's been here trying fruitlessly to converse with the cats for the better part of an hour. Crazy? Possibly.]

ii. STEAL BOOK, GET NAILED

[Incidentally, if you're studying hard (or hardly studying) in the library, you'll bump into Akira sooner rather than later. He's quiet, if not exactly shy, and strides up to eye the book in the other student's hands.]

That's a new one. Let me guess, another novel no one's heard of?

[The sharp-eyed might notice that all the fingertips on Akira's right hand have been thickly wrapped in bloodied bandaids. Curious!]

iii. STORE LOSER

[Should someone be headed towards the student store late in the evening, they might coincidentally find Akira giving the vending machine a nice, solid kick. He looks he might fire off a second when he feels the gaze of another student all but boring into him.

Turning, Akira brushes his blazer into place a little too casually. This is exactly what it looks like, and so Akira doesn't bother trying to save face.]

Sorry. The vending machine ate my homework. [Stepping aside, Akira flippantly motions to the machine.] All yours.

Comments

[forfeited]

[The familiarity of it all has him swallowing the faint taste of bile at the back of his tongue, and he leans carefully backward against the counter behind him, folding his arms over his chest. He recognizes the question as not a direct one-- he isn't specifically questioning Akechi's ability, but what he would be doing should the concession to work separately be afforded. That Akira is even considering it is a strange salve on Akechi's constantly overstimulated skin.]

Checking written information, likely. Libraries, any books on the area, computers. There doesn't seem to be any internet equivalent, but there must be written record of something.

[jokey]

[Don't worry, Akechi. Akira's looking out for the interests of both you and your chronically overstimulated skin.

Leaning back against the counter, Akira nods, hands firmly trenched in his pockets. He's silent for a moment, thinking, before he settles on a compromise of sorts.]

That's fair. [Oh? Is he actually backing down?] We can share our findings when we come across anything notable. Does that work for you?

[See? A compromise! He won't have Akira breathing down his neck all the time, only some of the time. Sounds good, right?]

[forfeited]

[It works for him a little too well, Akechi thinks. He stares Akira down with a faint squint, as if trying to leer through the addendum to the agreement that he hasn't said yet. As if he expects him to correct himself.]

...I don't see why not, [He pulls his arms a little tighter across his chest.] Why bother sharing findings, though? It's not like you need anything more from me, nor I you.

[jokey]

[Give this man an inch and he'll be gunning for the mile, won't he? It's not enough to simply posit a reasonable compromise— certainly not with Akechi. He could handle this all on his own and find his fair share of answers in due time, but if Akira were the type to work alone... well, he wouldn't be himself at all, now would he?

For now, what matters is that Akechi's agreeing to some manner of teamwork. It may not be an ideal arrangement for either of them, but this is what compromise looks like: finding a solid enough middle ground to settle on.

In contrast to Akechi's tight-knit arms, Akira loosens his posture, freeing his hands from his pockets to palm the counter behind him.]

We see the world differently. You might catch onto something I'd normally overlook and vice versa. Isn't that reason enough? To put it another way, if we cooperate, we stand a better chance of getting out of here sooner.

[forfeited]

[There's a sudden rush of air from his lungs that bubbles up out of his mouth in a harsh chuckle, and Akechi shifts his weight from one foot to the other, then pushes off the counter entirely to stride past Akira toward the door.]

That's an understatement if I ever heard one. Fine, we'll reconvene after our individual information seeking. Where should we meet?

[jokey]

[That little laugh warms him in the strangest of ways. It's not exactly accurate to call it pleasant, nor does it bring a smile to Akira's face, but it warms him from the inside out and reminds him that he's not as far from home as he feels. Fellas, is it gay if your rival makes you happy to be alive?

Straightening up (for the express purpose of falling right back into a comfortable slouch), Akira lets Akechi take his leave first, calling out to him as he goes.]

Here. I've got a hunch people don't gather here often.

[It's no secret hideout in the attic of a popular cafe, but it'll do in a pinch, right?]

See you later. Don't set anything on fire.

[Or fucking stab someone. Bye for now, Akechi... See you back at the dorms some hours later..............]

[spongebob narrator voice] many hours later

[forfeited]

[He had nothing to say to Akira's specifically friendly note of "see you later", just raising a hand to wave as he left the science room and strode off down a hall to make an attempt at Learning.]

[Learning, which unfortunately did not go well at all. He actually learns approximately nothing, despite digging and hunting and coming up with very, very little information. He learned more about the stupid superstition of a fingernail-thieving ghost in the library than he did about anything else, and while he thought very hard about stealing every book he attempted to find useful just to test the damn thing, he put all his books away for how utterly useless they were, deeming them unworthy of lost fingernails, superstitious or otherwise.]

[As such, he doesn't even notice a one Akira Kurusu lounging about on the bed in his corner of the dorm room he just so happens to share with him as he walks into the space, carefully inspecting his fingernails as he goes. He stops a few paces into the room as the door closes, looking up, and is promptly doused with dread.] Oh you must be kidding.

[jokey]

[Ladies and gentleman: dramatic irony. Settled in bed (the first real bed Akira's slept on in over a year), he turns his attention from his book and onto the call of a familiar voice. Oh. That voice doesn't sound too happy, but when does it ever...]

What's up? Got lost?

[What're you doing in his dorm room, Akechi McKecherson? Akira thought they agreed to go their separate ways until they'd found enough evidence to warrant meeting up. It's not like Akechi's also boarding here, right? ...Right?]

[forfeited]

[He pulls out his PDA and scowls at it rather than responding to Akira, tapping and swiping his thumb furiously for a few seconds. He backpedals to the door of the dormitory, looks from the number and emblem on it to his PDA a few times, and finally clicks the button on the side of it to turn the screen off before pocketing it.]

I'm choosing to blame you for this disastrous turn of events. [And he scans the room, finding the only unclaimed bed and striding to it, setting the items he'd brought from his locker at the foot of the bed, his back to Akira.]