天道 あかね (asanequal) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2015-11-23 19:37:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, !partner thread, akane tendo, conner kent (superboy) |
Who: Conner Kent and Akane Tendo
What: A meeting at school; partner thread
Where: UCI
When: 23 November 2015
Status: Closed and Complete when posted
Rating: Low
Conner was attempting to get used to Orange County. He wanted to call this new area home. And the center portion of that for him was the university. He had started auditing classes, even though he wouldn’t be joining any formally until January and the Spring Semester. Sitting in on classes, and taking notes, was proving to be a lot more fun than he had thought. One, Gen Ed English, was starting to put the idea into his head to write his story.
He had already started taking notes and making outlines, based on what the class had taught him, and what he knew of his past. It wasn’t a lot, and it was just a beginning, but then, everything in his life was right now, wasn’t it? He smiled as he wandered the area around the campus, slowly heading, in a vague kind of way, toward the student union.
Well, the union, and the coffee shop there. He loved coffee. Straight black coffee was a godsend, and he loved the taste of it, the feel of the rush it gave him, and the way it brightened his day. Maybe he would settle down and write a little bit on his story! He hastened his steps and smiled wider.
It had been a few months into term, and about a month since Professor Fitz had apologised for how he had treated her, so English wasn’t as stressful a class. True, it had really just been confusing for her but when people didn’t know how a teacher would respond, there was an undercurrent of confusion and anxiety. That was gone now. And the fact it seemed Ranma was actually taking initiative to get help with school outside of her.
At the moment, she was currently in the student union with tea. It was busy, it was always busy really, but it wasn’t too bad. Ranma was in one of the classes they hadn’t gotten scheduled together in and so she was waiting. It usually was easier that way. Her father was still worried because of all the strange things that happened in the area. This also gave her a chance to be away from the constant motion of the Tendo-Saotome household.
As it were, Akane had one of the few places that had a few open seats as everywhere else was full of students and teachers, some working on group projects. Others just catching up with friends. Tea in hand, the Japanese teen was translating her notes in Japanese as it helped her to retain the information.
Conner smiled as he stepped into the union, glancing around. He was finding the crowded nature of the area both refreshing and sometimes alarming, So many people, constantly rubbing against one another, talking, and interacting! It was… amazing. He grinned as he ordered and got his drink, and a croissant, then headed for a table.
Once he realized there was just about one spot left, he smiled as he recognized a classmate. He made a beeline for her table, and then stopped, hesitating to interrupt her. His eyes were drawn downward, viewing her, then her work. To his startled eyes, he realized he could read both languages she was writing, and that he knew the second one in spoken word as well. Discovering something he had not known about himself made him blink a bit, then he spoke, still hesitant. And in Japanese.
“Pardon, please, but do you mind if I share this table? It’s a little crowded.” He was unsure what led him to use the language, other than a curiosity how it would feel tripping off his tongue. The answer was, actually, weird.
Akane blinked as she looked up. There were plenty of students on campus who were there on exchange programmes from Japan, so it wasn’t too strange to hear conversations in Japanese or be involved in them. But what she hadn’t realised was that someone from her English class would.
“It’s fine.” Smiling, Akane shifted her notes to make room for Conner. It wasn’t like she’d been taking up all that much room to begin with. But it was still the polite thing to do. She might not like boys as a general rule, (the dreams had made that all the more obvious), she had seen nothing about him that made her think he’d be like most of the jerks she knew. And she could always take care of herself if absolutely necessary but she didn’t think it would be.
Conner settled opposite her, and he cocked his head to the side as he did so. He waved a hand at what she was doing, still speaking in Japanese. It seemed the polite thing to do. “Studying? How’s class going?”
He was curious how it was for someone who was actually having to do the work, and not just audit things, like he was right now. Of course, he’d get his chance in january, but still. Advanced knowledge of a situation was good, right?
Knowing an enemy’s advantages and disadvantages is important., came a whisper in his mind, a thought that was there, then gone again, startling him. Could that have been a fragment of memory? Whoah. The thought made his next words slower.
“Ah, I’m Conner, Kent Conner.” Without thinking, his mind adjusted his name to the Japanese way of address, with his given name last, instead of first.
“Translating notes helps me understand better.” True with English it was mostly just going over books and readings, writing papers, but it helped regardless. It was a different set of English classes than what had been taught in Japan which had been as a language and not the analysis of books. “But it is going well. A lot of writing”
Which had it’s moments, but Akane made due and was doing well in the class. She did notice the slowing of his words, which was odd as greetings tended to be one of the first things taught. But no matter.
“Tendo Akane. It’s nice to meet you officially, Conner.”
“I am learning a lot about writing, myself. Even just auditing the class.” Conner cocked his head to the side, and smiled, curious. “And you, Akane. If you don’t mind me asking, were you raised here, or in Japan? And if there, were there similar classes?” He didn’t mean to pry, really, but he found the idea interesting, and he liked the idea of learning more.
Akane nodded some. That was a good thing, to be able to learn even when auditing classes. A strange concept initially but she’d been in the States for just over a year now, so it wasn’t like she hadn’t heard people mention it and look into it. Nabiki had done as much when they first arrived. “Japan. My family moved here about a year ago.” Easier to just include Ranma and Mr.Saotome as family. They pretty much were anyway, what with the arranged engagement and all.
“We study Japanese back home. English is taught as a second language.” The math and science curriculum seemed easier based on how intense it was in Japan. Then again, it was different all around.
Conner nodded, listening, smiling a little. He nibbled his croissant, and sipped his coffee appreciatively, then cleared his throat to answer. She was interesting, and she had apparently lived a rather interesting life so far, at least to him.
“Amazing. I can only imagine how odd it would be for you.” Well, he could imagine it well, actually. What with being basically an alien to the world himself, with only three months of memory. Everything was weird to him. Even things people accepted as normal.
“”Do you ever find yourself wondering why Americans do things in the ways they do?” He did, a lot.
Akane didn’t know what was weirder. America or the dreams. The dreams were definitely weird and with the crossover that could happen. They were exaggerations of her life. But some things in America just seemed so very odd. Like the whole prom debacle and the scene that had caused.
”Sometimes…” But it wasn’t like there was much Akane could do about it. She just.. went along with it. Perhaps the dreams just made it easier to go with strange things because there was always something going on. But even before, Akane generally found she was able to mostly adjust. She missed things from home and was looking into New Years to see if there were any shrines doing a traditional New Year’s Eve. But that was about it.
Conner smiled a little. “I find myself in that position.” He hesitated, then spoke softer. “I am an amnesiac. I have no recall of culture or past before an accident a few months ago.” Which was the simple and short way of explaining it, really.
“So, often, I find myself unsure about customs, ideas, and things everyone else takes for granted here.” And yet other things came just instinctively, like his grasp of Japanese and the way he spoke it, like a native, almost. He had no idea why, and he definitely wanted to know!
As the conversation switched to English, Akane tilted her head to the side as Conner spoke, admitting that he had amnesia. That was something she could vaguely understand. Not completely and hers had only been for a few days thanks to Shampoo from the dreams making her forget Ranma. That alone had been unsettling. To lose everything?
“I’m so sorry.” And she was. It was strange enough being in a new country, but she had her family so it wasn’t so bad. To have no memory or understanding of anything? It sounded terrifying.
He smiled lopsidedly, woefully, but shook his head. “I’m making my way. Finding new paths, you know? That’s what this is all about.” He waved his hands at the college around them. “To figure out who i am now.” And maybe it would work. Maybe.
He shook his head. “For now, I am just letting myself be. And enjoying meeting people.” He rose, then. “I should let you get back to what you were doing, though. “ He extended his hand to her. “Thank you for letting me sit here, and for an enjoyable few moments.”
He felt like he needed to escape now. He felt like somehow, telling his secret had been a line he had crossed and some part of him was panicking.
Akane nodded. That was something she and Ranma were trying to figure out, even if their fathers were both saying they knew who they were. It had always been that way for them. What was expected. Here they had a chance to at least explore different options.
“That’s good. Sometimes it’s needed.”
Then he was standing and the teen nodded. She did want to finish her translating before Ranma got out of class, which would be soon now. “You’re welcome. It was nice meeting you, Conner.”
“And you, Akane.” He smiled, then waved, and headed off, humming to himself. The meeting had been nice, and he felt like he was a little more grounded, and maybe even just… feeling fine. Yeah.
Now that was really nice to feel.