kano catchall

[exercisms]

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week 0; post-npc reveal

[exercisms]

[Later that evening, Mob is coming down to the kitchen and digging through the fridge for something to eat and pouring himself a glass of milk.]

[suddenlybees]

[ Kano's over at the kitchen counter, a stool pulled up so he can sit hunched over a steaming cup of something, fingers tented over the couth of it so they can get all gross and damp and warm. ]

Heya~ Having trouble sleeping?

[exercisms]

[Nodding.]

I haven't had to share a room with someone before, other than my family.

[Why is his roommate such an intimidating lady.]

[suddenlybees]

Ohh, same, same. But you can't hide out here forever~

[ He pats the countertop next to him. Hide here for like half an hour, then go confront that intimidating lady. ]

Who're you rooming with?

[exercisms]

Dorothy-san.

[She's been very nice to him. She's just. Intimidating.]

[suddenlybees]

Huh... Don't think I've met her yet!

[ When will Kia toplevel... ]

As long as she's not, like, kicking you out of the room, that should be fine, right?

[ Because what sort of roommate does that? Kano, to Usagi, almost. ]

[exercisms]

[Shaking his head.]

No, she isn't. She's nice.

[suddenlybees]

Heh, that's good...

[ ... ]

Do you like her?

[exercisms]

I guess? I don't know her that well yet.

[It hasn't even occurred to him he might mean as a crush, because 20 years old may as well be 40 years old to him.]

[suddenlybees]

But you smiled, talking about her. Doesn't that mean she makes you happy?

[ Like can be like too! Don't just say "I guess" oh my god, wait until Dorothy hears about this ]

[exercisms]

She was nice.

[He's getting embarrassed now, wow.]

[suddenlybees]

[ rip ]

Yeah? And that makes you happy~ That's great! You should let her know, maybe? Like, nothing makes you happier knowing you make somebody happy, right? It'd be a shame if she never gets to know~

[exercisms]

That's true, but - it's not so easy to say something like that to someone.

week 1; post-trial

[exercisms]

[Bad. Extremely bad. But he will still come to find Kano later so they can talk more?

He's a little less visibly upset, since he doesn't stay any particular emotion for very long.]

[suddenlybees]

[ He'll have to make it all the way back to the lounge to find Kano, seated in front of one of the couches but there's an invisible barrier preventing Mob from coming any closer to him. Great because there are definitely people out there who would punch him for what he pulled. ]

Heya. Going up to your room?

[exercisms]

[Shaking his head.]

I wanted to talk to you.

[suddenlybees]

[ There's still that kneejerk reaction of "Why??" when answered like that, even if he knows why, even if his mind twists the reason. ]

Do you think that's a good idea, Shigeo? The more we talk, the more you'll probably regret it.

[exercisms]

Because you think you'll drag me down.

[That's what he said earlier, right?]

But you won't. Because there are already things I learned from you that I couldn't have learned from someone else. So no matter what, I'm happy that we met.

[suddenlybees]

[ Because he thinks he'll drag Mob down. Because that's all that'll happen, talking to him in his final moments, whether he's forthright or not, there'll only be this heavy feeling. ]

Yeah? I'm glad I could be useful in some way... But, you know, that's how people are. You talk to more and more people, and you learn all sorts of things. It's not just me, you could've learned whatever it was from anybody.

[exercisms]

I agree that's how people are, but every person is also different. So the things I can learn from you, I can only learn from you.

[It's heavy, but that's okay. That's something to learn from, too.]

No matter what happens, I'm glad that I met you.

[suddenlybees]

[ He breathes a laugh at that, reaching out like he wants to pet Mob on the head but remembers the barrier, so his fingers curl back on themselves and he takes his hand back. ]

You'd be the only person here who thinks that, you know? Kinda makes me feel bad that you're not more upset at me.

[exercisms]

Oh. Don't feel bad. I am upset.

[Hmm.]

I still can't understand why you wanted them to see you that way.

[suddenlybees]

[ is this upset ]

Oh... hm. It's kinda hard to explain, so I'm not going to. It's better like this, when they don't think too well of me. Makes it a little easier for me to breathe too.

[exercisms]

[He just explained it is, so it must be, even though his expression is just. What it is.]

That does sound hard to explain. You told me about how it's good to share your feelings with others, but even so. . .

[Then again.]

Even so, when you told me that. . . there are feelings I wasn't ready to share. It's too soon. I haven't changed enough, and the person I am now - that person might not be enough for her. I might be rejected, and I'm not sure I know how to handle that.

. . . Is it something like that?

[suddenlybees]

...Something like that, yeah.

[ almost exactly like that, yeah, except instead of a girl, it's the rest of the world. the person he is can only be rejected, a monster, not something fit for society. ]