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Tweak says, "Mmm. Ice cream kisses."

kondo kozue | 近藤梢 (anthesphoria) wrote in disappear_rpg,
@ 2009-10-22 16:34:00

Entry tags:

kozue, renju

well, somebody has to arrange the matches--
WHO: Kozue and Renju
WHAT: A coincidental meeting.
WHERE: On campus.
WHEN: After school, after the rerun.
WHY: Didn't you hear about Kozue's scheme?

Tennis-free days were really quite calming for Kozue—not because the actual sport was tiring as much as because skipping and running home, or skipping and hiding out were both such stressful activities, and actually attending was rife with the terror of it being a Wrestling Day, or of having to display how little she'd improved since the beginning of the year in front of her teammates.

Today, there was no rushing home looking over her shoulder for someone she knew from the team, and no hiding in extra-dimensional lobbies. Today, she got to take her time going home, say hello to friends, say an extra hello or two to that really handsome new starting forward on the basketball team, and lollygag around the entrance of the school waiting for a friend or that basketball player to leave, and get them to offer to walk back to the dorms with her. While waiting for that, she was engaged in playing StoneShatterer on her phone.

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anthesphoria
2009-10-23 02:01 am UTC (link)

"There's… lots of things about that place are exhausting, really." Her voice dropped slightly; in a private place, she might have listed the various things (the Shadows, the fighting, the team, to name a few). Here, she was content to be oblique. "I thought you were doing really well when we were in there, though. In the fighting. Is it true that Sagaki-sempai has been teaching you some stuff?"

Ah, the heart of the matter. Or, one of the matters. It wasn't as though Kozue had decided to talk to Renju purely to dig up more information on this Tom-Crush thing; Sonozaki was also one of her favorite team-mates. She was sensible, she didn't call anyone anything unseemly, and, as Kozue had said, she was apparently very good at the wind magic thing. Kozue did manage to keep her tone from being keenly interested; it was much more, 'oh, this is something he mentioned, how interesting'.

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lotus_beyond
2009-10-23 02:13 am UTC (link)

Renju nodded. "I've been seeing him for lessons every week or two when my schedule allows for it. It's been helpful." She owed a few lucky dodges to that training; she didn't doubt that she'd be have been much more of a burden so far if she hadn't had it.

"I think it would be a good idea for other people to take advantage of it, but I can tell how most of the team feels about him." There wasn't really any animosity there, just resignation. He was a member of the team (whether he'd admit it or not), and that was all on her end.

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anthesphoria
2009-10-23 02:20 am UTC (link)

Kozue nodded, thoughtfully. "I think he really just wants to alienate people, and it really seems to work on many people on the team. Do you ever get that impression?" She waited for more of Renju's opinion, still thinking. It was noncommittal so far, but it wasn't bad. And that was a good start.

"But it's stuff like that, giving you lessons, that lets us know he does care, after all." About the team being the implicit piece left off, unless Renju wanted to hear something different. "I mean, he's helped me out on a few things, too, when he really didn't have to."

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lotus_beyond
2009-10-25 01:54 pm UTC (link)

"I didn't really think of it that way, but that would make sense." Though Renju could sort of relate, now that she thought about it--and she pushed that thought right back down where it belonged. It was just awkwardness, nothing more. She'd never been a social person, after all, right?

"It seems counterproductive, though," she mused. "We don't have to be friends, but we should at least be allies." Tom's sudden departures at the end of most of their trips to Paradise leapt to mind, but there were plenty of other examples of what she was thinking of. "Anything less could be dangerous."

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anthesphoria
2009-10-25 05:24 pm UTC (link)

"You could try explaining that to him," Kozue offered; Renju did have a point that extended beyond her own matchmaking strategies and diversions. The Persona butterfly, and all…

"Maybe if enough people tell him, it'll get through. And we do need more team…" she stopped, looking for the word. Sticking-togetherness. Stickiness? No, that made no sense. Cohiption? Was that it? No, it sounded dumb. "Togetherness. You know?"

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lotus_beyond
2009-10-26 08:49 pm UTC (link)

I don't have any room to talk to anyone about that. "I've never been good at discussing things like that," Renju mumbled, averting her gaze slightly. "And I doubt he'd listen to me. I'm sure others have brought it up by now, and it doesn't appear to have gotten through."

Her own awkwardness aside, though, the situation was rather frustrating. She remembered having a somewhat similar conversation to this nearer to when she'd first met him, and he refused to admit to being part of the team when he clearly was in all but self-reference. If he wouldn't admit to it himself, then what good could she do?

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anthesphoria
2009-10-26 10:06 pm UTC (link)

"Ah. Well…" She'd have said peer pressure, but she really didn't think that Tom would give in to it, or that Renju would believe that Tom would give in to it. "We'll wear him away if we try enough times. I mean, if you stumble seven times, you've got to stand back up eight times." She grinned—it was only a bit forced—and pondered what else to say to push the issue.

And it wasn't only for the matchmaking, either. Tom really could use people reminding him he was on the team in a gentle, persistent way. It was far more likely to succeed than some of the more obvious tactics of team members.

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