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Tweak says, "a b c d e E E"

spinningwheels (spinningwheels) wrote in psychomanteum,
@ 2012-07-06 10:02:00

Entry tags:

arashi, daichi

WHO: Daichi and Arashi
WHAT: Daichi runs into his classmate on the job.
WHERE: Consumption
WHEN: Sunday.

After asking around Oozora, Daichi had come to realize that the rather...odd looking caterers of the introductory soiree were actually representing a bakery in town, called Consumption. The strangeness was all part of the place's gimmick, and a quick Yowl search had revealed that the place was, in fact, quite delicious.

And so, with the aid of the school's shuttle, Daichi found himself at the entrance to the place, just as one of the scowling staff switched the sign from closed to open.

Misawa prepared himself, for any sign of the pink-haired woman. He had been out-apatheticed last time, a mortal insult to someone who considered himself as apathetic as anyone in the world. This time, he was ready.

Daichi practically radiated indifference as he approached the counter, affecting an aloof manner as he reached it, waiting for someone to take his order.

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unfathomed
2012-07-07 07:11 am UTC (link)

Consumption was mostly staffed by women, but here and there the lesser sex milled around, just as pale and dark and pretty as the girls, and carting around the same indifference and delicious sweet treats too. One of such these boys emerged from the gloom of the back rooms, his mismatched eyes widening only slightly and briefly in recognition of the grumpy looking kid in the wheelchair.

“Misawa-kun, right?”

There was an abrupt ahem behind him, and there was the same pink-haired woman, currently burning holes in the both of them with her nuclear, contempt-filled stare.

“I mean, whaddaya want?” Arashi’s voice, usually with its own cadence and oozing a barely-restrained confidence, was flat and emotionless.

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spinningwheels
2012-07-09 12:51 pm UTC (link)

"Yeah," Daichi went to reply -- and there she was.

He shot Arashi a quick look, something to the effect of "we'll talk when Miss Hates The World More Than I Do leaves,", and turned to favor her with a brief, linefaced stare, before turning back to his server.

"I'll have that thing," he replied, shrugging, pointing at what appeared to be a heart-shaped pastry with (what he hoped) was raspberry sauce oozing out of it.

Daichi unearthed his phone from his pocket, to pay for the tasty treat. Was that pink-haired girl the owner of the place? Whatever. Not like it mattered.

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unfathomed
2012-07-09 07:47 pm UTC (link)

The look the other boy had given his boss had not escaped his notice, and he cocked his head to the side and glanced between him and the shadow of the pink woman disappearing back into the back rooms, and clicked his tongue before grabbing a bag to fill Daichi’s order.

“Some bad blood between you two?” He asked with a stilted, flat voice, and then: “That’s all you want?”

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spinningwheels
2012-07-09 08:08 pm UTC (link)

"Don't have a damn clue who she is," Daichi admitted, his voice a whisper as he nodded to the other boy, "but she tried to out-glare me at opening day, and I won't stand for that."

It was a tad childish, but secretly, Daichi rather enjoyed his made-up, entirely-in-his-head cold war with the pink-haired woman. It gave him something to look forward to in a sad, pathetic sort of way.

"I'll take a coffee too, I guess. Black, no sugar. I didn't know they hired students here. I've seen you around a few times. You're the guy with the stuff, right?"

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unfathomed
2012-07-10 09:25 am UTC (link)

"She's my boss," he answered, as if that much should be obvious. "The ringleader of this fine establishment. People expect to be treated like shit here, I think, so of course she'd outglare you -- it's her job."

He craned his head to take it all in, from the ripped black lace of the curtains to the modified tables and chairs: they were all sanded down to affect wear and age, and he wasn't sure you could find a level place to sit in the whole building, except maybe the employee's "lounge".

The most modern and well-cared for items in the building were the various bits of spooky, esoteric art scattered about (from bleached skulls to portraits of women who looked as if they'd walked straight out of a well and into your TV) and the silverware and cooking appliances. He went to one to fetch the coffee, and a moment later he was sliding both the cup and pastry towards Daichi and ringing him up.

"Yeah, I'm that guy with that stuff. Why, you want something off menu? And that'll be 960 yen."

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spinningwheels
2012-07-10 01:52 pm UTC (link)

"Her job," Daichi concurred, looking up at the other boy for a moment, dead in the eyes, "/my life./"

He held out his phone to pay for breakfast. Thankfully, the place was still largely empty. If his luck held, he could sit down and eat before it got too full, but that was unlikely. Best he could tell, the place was the most popular in town.

"Sorta amazed this place does so well in a country obsessed with honor and respect," Daichi observed, taking his spoils with him. "Is it an American chain or something?"

The coffee and pastry went down onto his tray, and he took a quick sip. It was boiling hot, just the way he liked it.

"And nothing off menu just yet," he said, very quietly, "but if I need such things, you're the guy to go to, I hear."

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unfathomed
2012-07-11 10:13 am UTC (link)

"Like I said, I'm the guy."

He glanced at the back room, then up at the clock, then at the customer, who seemed, for all intents and purposes, to be satisfied, if a little gloomy and irate, but that seemed more a general mood than anything related to his service.

"I don't think so, pretty sure it's all Japanese. It started off in one of those trendier places in Osaka, but Hikari-san liked the feel of this island. Said it seemed like just the right atmosphere with all those creepy rumors about the forest, and the fact that a school teeming with thousands of students was being built here didn't help."

He took in the decor, the black and the lace and the dim light that filtered in through the strategically dusted window panes and dark, moth-bitten curtains. For all the appearances of wear and tear and blood and ghosts and guts, it was fairly mild and welcoming, cozy in a morbid manner that bespoke of measured, artistic despair.

"I'm going for a smoke break," he announced to the room at large, and stepped out from around the counter after grabbing himself a few danishes that were shaped like bats and oozed a sickly sweet smelling blood-red concoction from their fangs. Then he looked down at Daichi expectantly.

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spinningwheels
2012-07-15 11:09 pm UTC (link)

"I'll keep that in mind," Daichi replied, calmly, quietly, as he listened. Hikari-san must have been HER name. Ironic, really, but the world was full of sad, tragic ironies.

Being here was...comforting, somehow, in a way that he didn't want to think about too much. Daichi was wrapped up in that thought when he saw Arashi make his way back from behind the counter. He was surprised for a moment, but affected his usual casually disinterested demeanor.

He nodded to his classmate, a wordless way of saying he'd follow the darker-haired man wherever he went. Within reason, of course.

Especially if some of the rumors were true.

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unfathomed
2012-07-16 01:05 am UTC (link)

It was a short hike outside, just out the door really, and Arashi found his accustomed spot in the alley between his place of employment and the next joint over – a simple mom and pop store that sold various tidbits and sundries, and had been updating its catalog due to the sudden influx of young, hip kids.

Across the street, almost directly parallel of the pastry shop, sat the sick, twisted shadow version of Consumption. Where Consumption was dark and morbid, Carouse was an odd, sunshine and rainbows themed bar that served drinks from coffees to shakes, to trendier and weirder things such as flavored air. Their specialty was exquisitely flavored milk. The two stores eked out a fair, symbiotic living together, but despite their shared prosperity and the fact that many of their customers could be seen entering one with the other’s fare in hand, there was a fierce rivalry between them.

Arashi had planted his back against the wall, one leg drawn up and knee cocked as he finished his snack and considered the bright store, perhaps wistful for some of its wonderful milk, but then he was done and there a cigarette hanging from his bottom lip and he was looking at Daichi.

“So you used to be trick and field, huh?”

There was no sensitivity in his voice, just forthright and unabashed curiosity.

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spinningwheels
2012-07-16 11:27 pm UTC (link)

The alley was a bit narrow, but Daichi squeezed his way into it successfully as he followed the taller boy, watching him affect his pose against the wall.

Truthfully, Daichi had never even seen Carouse. Really, it looked...lovely, for a certain value of lovely. Somehow, though, it made him appreciate Consumption that much more. Though it served horribly sugary delights, Carouse was the more likely to give him a diabetic episode.

By far.

"Yeah," he admitted, quietly. He hadn't had to talk about it anywhere near as much as he'd thought, so saying it aloud actually wasn't that bad. "Field only really. Couldn't run for crap. Throwing events mainly. Discus. Shotput. Javelin. That's the ironic part, I guess. Wasn't my arm that got fucked up, but...kinda need legs to throw."

It was odd being so cavalier about it. Maybe he'd finally put some distance between himself and the accident? Daichi didn't think he was that lucky, but talking about it was step one.

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unfathomed
2012-07-17 09:51 pm UTC (link)

"That's rough," he said through a puff of smoke, and smoked the rest of it in a careful, considered silence. The dull throb of a bass-heavy, low and deep song could be heard through the other side of the wall of Consumption, and the sunlight cut ribbons out of the shadows of the alley in which they stood.

"You could still do some of those though, right? I mean, they have events for disabled people." Another puff of smoke. "Basketball too, if you wanted."

There wasn't a hesitance or any amount of pity in his voice. He wouldn't want any if he was in the same situation.

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spinningwheels
2012-07-18 02:32 am UTC (link)

"I guess," he replied, non-commitally. "I mean, I thought about it, a lot at first, but I had a bunch of shit to take care of first in the aftermath. All came at once, and by the time I got my head right...athletics was the last thing I was thinking about."

His father and mother had recommended disability sport to him. Right away. As in, a few days after the accident. Too soon for his liking.

"I might give it a shot someday. Right now, just worrying about living again. Got another doctor's appointment next week, and therapy's every week now. Might actually get some legs soon."

Talking to Arashi was easy, somehow. He didn't seem judgmental, just curious. Probably TOO curious, really.

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unfathomed
2012-07-23 05:22 pm UTC (link)

The tall, dark boy knocked his cigarette against the mortar wall and tipped his head back, pursed his lips, and exhaled a steady and impressive stream of smoke, as if he were some furnace-hearted dragon manifest as a sinuous goth teenager. The jewelry he wore glinted like scales. He smoked in silence for several minutes, regarding the blue sky with narrowed and baleful eyes.

“And that’ll fix all your problems, huh, some prosthetics?”

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spinningwheels
2012-07-24 02:08 am UTC (link)

"Hell no," Daichi said, firmly, "but it gets rid of a few of the really annoying bits. Handicap accessible or not, getting around isn't the easiest in one of these. Sides, can't get a prosthesis for my brain, so, gonna have to keep seeing Sonozaki-san, I guess."

He looked up at the other boy. God, he looked like a movie character, with the dark hair and the cigarette. It almost made him laugh, really. They made a strange combination, really.

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	unfathomed 2012-07-25 12:17 am UTC (link)
	“Your family must’ve came out pretty well from the settlement though, right?” He asked with a genuine, and probing, curiosity, though those monochromatic eyes had not yet left the sky. (Reply to this) (Parent)