InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Fnord!"

ofmanydevices (ofmanydevices) wrote in disappear_rpg,
@ 2009-11-21 23:36:00

Entry tags:

kozue, tom

Who: Tom and Kozue
What: Kozue gives romantic advice
Where: Butterfly Room.
When: Early in the evening.
Why: Because Tom has asked everyone else.

The soft sounds of music once again filled the Butterfly room. Tom was up there again, this time listening to "Fly Me to the Moon" with both Hands stuck as a captive audience to his thoughts.

"...I even like the stern voice she has when she gives people orders."

He sighed and leaned back in his chair.

"Is it love? I don't know. I don't even know what love is like really. Ishinomori described exactly how I feel, and Akuba seems to think I should declare it loud and proud like Satou. I don't know if that's.... the best idea.

And a lot of what they have suggested contradicts the books. Hell the books even contradict themselves."

He shook his head.

"I really just... I'm not sure what to do."

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anthesphoria
2009-11-23 04:49 pm UTC (link)

Kozue checked her cellphone one last time, curious, as she climbed the stairs up to the Butterfly Room. What would Tom have texted her about? What would he need to see her about? Ugh. It was probably some Paradise thing—maybe he wanted her to try and stalk Ishino-sensei with him again.

Well, whatever it was, she might as well get it over with—she had shopping on her docket after this, and was eager enough to get on with it. She opened the door, prepared to see Tom surrounded by his crazy notes, maybe wearing a spy costume or something. And instead got him talking, apparently quiet earnestly, to Maeko's Shadow Hands.

"Uh. Hello, Sagaki-senpai."

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ofmanydevices
2009-11-23 06:46 pm UTC (link)

Tom looked over at Kozue, and let out a breath.

"Oh Kondo... you're here."

Tom observed Kozue's arrival almost as if surprised that she would have come. Or perhaps he was simply hopeful that she wouldn't Her not coming would mean he didn't have to admit what he was thinking.

Finally Tom stood up. He was never one to avoid nasty things. He took a breath and spoke quickly. And while Tom didn't trust a lot of people, the ones he did trust he was always straight forward with.

"I... I believe I may have feelings for Sonozaki."

The way he said it, it was almost like he expected her to laugh at him, or berate him, even though she was one who had encouraged this line of questioning in the first place.

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anthesphoria
2009-11-23 07:32 pm UTC (link)

"I'm glad you realized that," Kozue said, quite matter-of-fact about the whole thing. "And you want advice as to how to tell her?" The leap of logic wasn't too huge—after all, he'd called her here and not Sonozaki, and if he was ready or capable of confession, wouldn't he be talking to Renju instead? And, honestly, it was Tom. Imagining that he was clueless when it came to matters of the heart wasn't hard at al. "Or you wanted to ask if I think she feels the same?"

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ofmanydevices
2009-11-23 08:28 pm UTC (link)

Tom's eyes widened.

"Wait, you can do that? How do you know something like that? And... umm... I actually wanted to know what to do next. I asked around to all the people I know who are... uh... dating"

He said the word dating like it was a foreign one, one he had trouble getting his mouth around.

"None of them know who, I think I played it off like I was doing research for a project. None of them knows who it is I'm focused on at least. And I don't think Sonozaki suspects anything.
Akuba seemed to think the best goal would be to just announce my feelings, Ito and Satou were... less helpful. I thought... you might have better ideas."

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anthesphoria
2009-11-24 03:18 am UTC (link)

"I can ask her about her feelings?" Kozue almost laughed, but thought better of it. There was no telling what his reaction might be to that—fragile moment and all. "I could, sure, girls do that all the time. And. You asked Akuba-senpai, Ito-senpai, and Satou-senpai for advice on dating?"

This time she couldn't stop herself from giggling. It was impossible. "I can only imagine how helpful they were."

"What to do next? It is traditional to announce your feelings somehow, yes," Kozue said, nodding, and momentarily going quiet as she remembered that day not too long ago when she'd given Maeko romance advice in this same exact place. Weird, how things came around. "You could also opt for something quieter, more subtle, I guess."

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	ofmanydevices 2009-11-24 03:29 am UTC (link)
	"I've read that gifts can also be helpful?" Tom paused and put a finger to his chin. He let out a long hmmmmmm noise. "How would I go about doing it more subtly?" He pointed at Kozue. "And don't say anonymous letters. There's enough of that going around and it's silly." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	anthesphoria 2009-11-24 03:41 am UTC (link)
	She shook her head, and raised her hands in a not guilty posture. "Oh, no, that's so clumsy. Sure, you could get her gifts, but that's as good as saying it out-right. Spend time together; go somewhere kind of romantic and don't say it's a date until you see whether she's had a good time or not. That's one easy way to start." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	ofmanydevices 2009-11-24 03:52 am UTC (link)
	"Oh..." Tom let out a breath. "That feels like... lying. And that's kind of the problem I've been having I..." Tom folded his hands behind his back, then seemed to feel that wasn't right and moved them to his front. "I... I look forward to seeing her everytime we get to train and all, and it just... feels dishonest to not tell her why." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

anthesphoria
2009-11-24 04:03 am UTC (link)

That one made Kozue smile, purely because of how adorable it was; she strode forward and sat down, and looked at Tom. Prepared now to dispense genuine advice; the boy could really use it, she was betting.

"Well, it's not the bad kind of lying. It's a good lie. It's also more like…delaying the truth, than like actually trying to get her to believe something totally untrue."

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ofmanydevices
2009-11-24 04:20 am UTC (link)

Tom took a breath.

"Okay so... nice... quiet... umm... romantic?"

Tom quirked an eyebrow at romantic. The concept seemed to elude him. He spoke slowly, as if working out a plan.

"Okay... so... I do that, and then... if she's having fun, I... tell her what exactly? "Ah-ha, this was a date! You never saw it coming?" I mean I get how to spring a surprise attack on an enemy. A surprise... date though..."

Tom frowned.

"... It seems like a surprise date would, well, likely end in the same way as a surprise attack. With the person hitting me and trying to escape."

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anthesphoria
2009-11-24 04:25 am UTC (link)

The giggling just got worse; Kozue shook her head, and covered her mouth with one hand, and then both. "I'm sorry, that's just a great image, you're probably—" giggle "—probably right, she might react badly. So just. Tell her your feelings! Make a romantic confession."

Another spate of giggles, and this one, she tried harder to suppress. "You researched. Haven't you ever seen a movie with one? I mean, they're all over the place."

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ofmanydevices
2009-11-24 04:28 am UTC (link)

Tom shrugged.

"Well yeah, but I've seen movies with people who are master trackers, expert orators, and who excel at hand to hand combat, it doesn't mean I just learned how to do it."

Tom scratched his head and thought.

"The books all talked about communication being important. Being honest about your feelings, faithful."

Tom crossed his arms and tilted his head.

"Oh, and they said I shouldn't be afraid of commitment. Which seemed silly to me, I've always commited fully to my missions."

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anthesphoria
2009-11-24 04:31 am UTC (link)

"They mean a different kind of commitment. A really hard kind," Kozue offered. "Like, promising to only date one person forever and ever."

To anyone else she might not have made the qualifying claim of commitment being hard, but she knew two things about Tom: one, he probably wouldn't judge her for thinking that or spread a rumor, and two, he would probably mistake it for a martial arts analogy anyway.

"And, faithful, honest, yeah." She nodded, thoughtfully. "Well, tell her how you feel about her, I guess, that's the best way to go about it. That you like her. That you want to date her."

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ofmanydevices
2009-11-24 04:55 am UTC (link)

Tom raised his shoulders, and then let them slump.

"Tell her how I feel. That does seem to be general consensus. And in fact the only consensus."

Tom sighed and turned away from Kozue, he felt his heart pounding for a moment and looked back at her.

"I'm... I don't know about all this, I just feel..."

He closed his eyes and put his hand to his head.

"Is this really a good idea?"

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anthesphoria
2009-11-24 06:48 pm UTC (link)

"Yes," Kozue said, decisively. "It's better to try, right?" At least, that was what she'd always heard; better to try and fail than never have done it at all or something like that. She wasn't totally studied up on idioms and old sayings, but that did ring a bell. And. Wait! She grinned. "If you don't go into the tiger's cave, you won't catch its cub! I studied that one for exams."

Her face fell. "Oh, but I think I messed it up on the actual test." Damn it, stupid tests. Now her brain was wandering off topic, as she tried to remember if she'd messed up any other proverbs.

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ofmanydevices
2009-11-24 07:28 pm UTC (link)

Tom nodded.

"Yes, it is better to at least try, then live in fear. I don't... well I don't really think any of this will end well. But that's never stopped me in the past."

He looked at Kozue.

"Thank you Kondo."

Tom was still unsure about all of this, all these connections, all this discussion. He was afraid, even if he would never admit it. But he would try, at the very least.

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