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Tweak says, "love you guys"

kondo kozue | 近藤梢 (anthesphoria) wrote in disappear_rpg,
@ 2010-06-14 22:45:00

Entry tags:

kozue, renju

WHO: Kozue and Renju
WHAT: More Presents!
WHERE: Renju's Room.
WHEN: After Seiko!Dungeon
WHY: Sneaky sneaky midgets.

Kozue rapped on Renju's door. It was a reasonable time; after school, after clubs were over, with enough time before dinner that Renju should be in. Even though Kozue was not completely aware of Renju's shut-in habits, she knew the other girl enough to assume she'd probably be in. The first-year was carrying a package, furoshiki-wrapped in a mute green-and-yellow cloth; after knocking on the door, she resettled it in both hands and waited.

She had felt truly strange preparing it—her grandmother had taught her the wrapping technique and it was something she'd always called Fumiko for advice on. What color to use, what folds were appropriate for what gifts and what recipients... And not having to have her choices approved, and not having someone to fall back on when she hadn't been sure, it had been different.

She was pleased with what she'd made, nonetheless.

She waited, shifting back and forth on the balls of her feet.

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lotus_beyond
2010-06-16 11:39 am UTC (link)

Renju was getting better about her shut-in habits, but it was a slow process, and at any rate she still liked to have a lot of quiet time to herself, studying or working or whatever else. This went double after dungeons these days; she was beginning to find that it was better to give herself time to process rather than throwing herself more into her work to repress everything.

That, too, was a slow process.

Right at this moment, she was sitting back on her bed, leafing through a recently-acquired manga. The knock on the door triggered her not-yet-unlearned habit of tucking it quickly under the pillow where no one could see it before peering through the peephole to see who it was (she still didn't exactly get a lot of visitors, after all).

Shortly after, the door opened a little way, and Renju poked her head through to greet the one person she didn't have to look up to do so with. "Er, hello, Kondo-san." The furoshiki, of course, didn't escape her notice, and it was difficult for her to suppress her surprise--one didn't see them used much these days. She opened the door a little wider to admit the first-year. "Please, come in."

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anthesphoria
2010-06-16 11:57 pm UTC (link)

"Thank you," she said, stepping forward into Renju's room—which she hadn't ever been in, had she? It wasn't like Kozue spent much time visiting other girl's rooms, after all. She nodded her head slightly, and smiled, trying to account for Renju's apparent confusion about the situation with calm, confident friendliness. At least, in Kozue's lexicon of social interaction, saying er and looking surprised spoke to her of confusion, possibly discomfort. Kozue wanted to cause neither of these things.

"How are you?" Kozue was always one for pleasantries; they were a habit she could fall back on without really needing to think about in her conscious mind.

She smiled, and continued to surreptitiously check the room around her; pleasantry was a habit, but curiosity was in her nature.

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lotus_beyond
2010-06-17 12:15 am UTC (link)

The room was tidy (not so much as it had been when her Shadow was in residence, of course; the sheets were rumpled, and a few books lay on non-desk surfaces) and well-kept, not that it required much effort to be such with as little as there was in it. There were a few CDs scattered around--aside from the books, which were mostly nonfiction anyway, they were the only real personal touch.

"I'm... doing well." Though, admittedly, she didn't sound it, exactly. The only people she'd had in her room before this were Keiichi and Masami, and that was an entirely different situation. Post-Paradise check-ups weren't really the same thing as social calls, especially considering...

... well, this obviously had nothing to do with that. There was no way it could. But what was the present about? "And you?"

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anthesphoria
2010-06-17 12:20 am UTC (link)

"I'm fine. Maybe I over-exerted myself a little in there," she said, shrugging slightly. "I feel tired." Tired and weird about having spoken up that much; the feeling was bobbing around her, awkward and strange. She never would have done that, before…

She closed her eyes briefly, trying to chase the chain of thought out of her head. "Here. I saw this, and I thought of you. So…"

This was, naturally, a lie. Not only had Kozue spent nearly an hour debating gifts, but she had gone shopping specifically for Renju. The other girl seemed like she needed cheering up and, after food, this was Kozue's second-best method to find happiness. Buy it and keep it. And she and Renju had shared enough meals and snacks that she was beginning to think it too odd to keep doing that.

She held the gift still in her hands, as if waiting for some acknowledgment to pass it over.

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lotus_beyond
2010-06-17 01:56 am UTC (link)

"Oh. You didn't have to..." Of course it was for her. Who else would it have been for? But there was still the obvious question of why. Friends didn't just... buy presents for each other out of the blue, did they? Well, maybe they did when they had the resources to spend on it, but that was sort of besides the point. At any rate, even Tom's had come with a confession.

And thinking about Tom's made her wonder a bit that she wasn't reacting as poorly as she had that time. Maybe it was the lack of expectation or obligation that came with it that made it a little easier to accept. Or maybe she was actually growing, learning gradually to deal with these things. Imagine that.

She started to refuse (that was what you normally did, right?), but going through the motions seemed a bit pointless, especially with Kozue. Instead, she nodded in thanks and accepted it, carefully untying the knot in the furoshiki.

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anthesphoria
2010-06-18 12:40 am UTC (link)

Kozue waited, smiling a little, and enforcing a strict policy of not-fidgeting on her hands, as Renju unwrapped the present. Actually, it was presents; inside, the first thing there was a slim book of haiku. Mostly about flowers. (Then again, it wasn't hard to find haiku about flowers.) It was a sophisticated, traditional sort of thing; it was a smart people thing, to boot, and that had made Kozue think of Renju. Not that she had come to that conclusion quickly. The hour in the book store had, eventually, helped her settle on this.

The second thing had been quicker and easier to choose, but Kozue found that her anxiety related, primarily, to that. "I saw it and… I don't know, you came to mind immediately. I thought you'd have wanted it. I'm sorry if it's not something you want right now. I can take it back."

The second book was titled first in English. Prometheus Unbound. The translation, half-katakana and half-kanji, was written underneath in small font. This, truly, Kozue had seen and known she needed to buy immediately; it had been choosing whether to give it to Renju or not give it to Renju that had taken up so much of her time between its purchase and now.

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lotus_beyond
2010-06-18 01:43 am UTC (link)

The size and heft of the package had made Renju think of books, and she wasn't disappointed. They were, however, a bit of an odd match with what she had in her room. The book of haiku was... well, Renju wasn't normally one for poetry; literature classes she did well in mainly because she knew how to analyze things. Still, she minded haiku less than she minded other poetry; there was something about the elegance of the form she could appreciate.

The other book, however. Renju stared at the title for a good few seconds, trying to take it in. She'd seen a few references to it while researching her Persona, but she'd dismissed them immediately (after all, it was a later work and had nothing to do with the mythological significance of the Personas). Now, though... Now she expected she'd be much better able to appreciate it. Even without her Persona, perhaps she could still-- In any case, she'd start on it tonight.

Pensively, carefully, she ran her fingers over the cover, then looked back at Kozue with a small trace of a smile. "I think I'll keep it. Thank you, Kondo-san."

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anthesphoria
2010-06-18 02:42 am UTC (link)

Kozue had allowed herself the small luxury of rocking back and forth on her feet a little, waiting to see what Renju thought of the books; now, seeing what looked suspiciously like a smile, she stilled. And felt really, genuinely good for a moment. Sonozaki wasn't the kind of person who smiled when she didn't mean it—the polar opposite of Yukizaki, maybe—in fact, Sonozaki might not always smile when she actually did mean it. Maybe. Kozue wasn't sure.

"I'm glad," she responded, nodding, trying to keep her own smile subdued and matching the other girl's tone. It wouldn't do to be beaming all over the place like a complete brainless idiot. Unfortunately, she couldn't think of anything else to say just then, and the silence made her feel like one in the end.

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