2025-11-06: A Tutor for Hyousuke
- Log: 2025-11-06 A Tutor for Hyousuke
- Cast: Hyousuke Suzuki, Jun Kashihara
- Where: A cafe in Tatsumi Port Island
- OOC Date: November 06, 2025
- IC Date: August 06, 2012
- Summary: Jun tutors Hyousuke and helps him better understand both literature in general and The Tale of the Heike in specific. They enjoy tea and metaphors!
<Pose Tracker> Hyousuke Suzuki has posed.
Having not seen or heard much of Iwatadoi, Hyousuke was unsure as to whether the cafe he and Jun were to meet in was always so quiet. Even for a place that was fairly small - compared to the chains scattered across the city, at least - there was a notable disconnect between the amount of patrons and the seats provided. Hyousuke supposed that it was more an issue with the time of day, rather than an issue with the cafe itself. The decor was inviting enough, consisting largely of wooden furniture polished to a gleam and arranged neatly about the place. Said furniture stood upon hardwood flooring of a darker hue, forming a pleasant contrast with both the seating and the surrounding walls. Handpainted art hung upon the otherwise bare walls, the clear light of day catching upon both them and the simple frames they were contained in.
The tea was certainly not to blame for the dearth of customers either. Having taken a sip of it the moment it was a degree under scalding, Hyousuke found the brew to be a rather refreshing one. Dark as night with a hint of sweetness to contrast against its bold flavour, he found himself deliberating over whether to rush and drink it while it was all still piping hot, or take his time and enjoy the pot served to him so that he could savour the taste. The internal debate raged in him, interrupted only when he heard the door creaking open, hoping that it was his summer tutor coming to meet him.
<Pose Tracker> Jun Kashihara has posed.
Jun likewise hasn't been to Iwatodai much before. He was here yesterday to catch up with Tsubasa, but there was a sudden downpour, so he mostly just spent his time in a different cafe chatting with Tsubasa and making plans for the future. Today, the weather is much more pleasant, so he can take his time waking through the city before arriving at the (different) cafe to meet up with Hyousuke.
He's still brought an umbrella, though. Just in case.
It's a charming place all the same, as Jun notes when he opens the door and walks in. He's wearing a sprig of lavender in the breast pocket of an airy, sky blue button-up short-sleeved shirt tucked into belted brown slacks (because of course the flower is the most important part of Jun's ensemble) and white tennis shoes. Nothing showy--he has a fairly simple style--but it complements his good looks all the same.
"Ah, Suzuki-kun, hello," he says when he spots Hyousuke, smiling. He spots that tea, though, and adds, "I'm sorry, did I keep you waiting? I thought I was on time..." He raises a hand to check a wristwatch that isn't there. He frowns at the nothing, then shakes his head a little and joins Hyousuke at the table, setting down his school briefcase and the books he brought within.
"How is the tea?" he asks, looking at the cup with interest. "It smells delicious--and you certainly look like you're enjoying it."
<Pose Tracker> Hyousuke Suzuki has posed.
Hyousuke perked up on seeing Jun enter, posture straightening and eyes focussing. The resemblance he bore to a golden retriever hearing the word 'walk' was uncanny, but also lost the moment he settled down and offered up a warm smile in response.
"Nah, I got here early." He said, waving his hand a little to dismiss the notion that Jun was late. "I wanted to try their tea, so i got here a while ago." At the mention of it, he slid the pot forward a little, nudging it towards both Jun and the empty cup that remained on the table.
"Why don't you try some? It's English Breakfast." To anyone familiar with the blend, that much would have been apparent from the smell alone. Unimpeded by milk diluting the flavour or the scent, and accompanied only by enough honey to compliment the taste, the wisps of steam that rose from the teapot's spout carried with them the scent of a freshly-brewed pot of something strong and flavourful. "I like mine black, but there's some milk over here if you want it." With that, he turned the handle towards Jun, letting him pour at his own pace and to his own taste. Was it polite? He did not know, and once his gaze fell on briefcase, he seemed not to care either.
"So what's first?" He asked, canting his head a little in a manner that, again, seemed strangely reminiscent of a hound's. Leaning back a little in his seat, it was easy to get a better view of Hyousuke's attire. It was a simple affair, consisting of little more than a pair of navy-blue jeans beneath a deep purple t-shirt, itself covered by thin, grey, jacket intended more to keep the sun off of bare skin than to provide any degree of warmth. No, the real points of interest were the bruises that peeked out past his cuffs, and edged past his collar. Some fresh, others fading, he seemed to have done a lacklustre job of covering them. "Literature is my worst one, but I kinda need help with... everything."
<Pose Tracker> Jun Kashihara has posed.
Uncanny, and yet endearing. There's something sweet about earnest, straightforward people like Hyousuke. Jun smiles as he touches a hand to his chin, and when he joins Hyousuke at the table, he nods at the explanation. "Ah, I see. Ah!" he adds as Hyousuke pushes the pot and a cup forward. "Thank you for sharing! I do love a good tea."
That includes Western teas like English Breakfast; he'd had Earl Grey while out with Tsubasa yesterday. It's a little surprising to see someone like Hyousuke enjoy that too, but it merely stands as a reminder that even seemingly simple people like him contain multitudes. Jun does indeed pour at his own pace, choosing to pour in some milk to cut the heat. When he takes a sip, it's just the right temperature.
"Delicious," he declares, setting down the cup. "This town really has some lovely cafes. With Tsubasa-kun and Kawase-san staying here for now, I'll have to come by more often."
With this, Jun gets his first really good look at Hyousuke--notable for the fact that that means he notices those bruises on his wrists and neck. Concern seeps into his brown eyes, and they search Hyousuke's face, but he doesn't say anything. Tsubasa hasn't been in the best form recently either...
"If literature's what comes to mind first for you, we can start there. It's one of my strong suits anyway, along with math," Jun replies. "What's the second-year summer reading? I'm guessing whatever it is, you need to write up an essay on it?" He offers a smile. "That's what my literature assignment was last year." And, when Hyousuke tells him what book they're supposed to read: "That's the book we were assigned to read too," he says dryly. "Still, that's good luck for you. How much have you read so far? If there's anything about the plot that confuses you, I can do my best to explain it."
Of course, if Hyousuke hasn't read any of it, there's not much Jun can do about that... Save, perhaps, move on to a different subject.
<Pose Tracker> Hyousuke Suzuki has posed.
Hyousuke did his best to keep his expression calm and noncommital while Jun partook of the tea, but there was no hiding the upward tilt of his lips when he saw that he wasn't the only one fond of the brew. He stifled it just as quickly as it had emerged, not wishing to appear overeager or unfocussed, but that momentary lapse of concentration had been all that his reflexes needed to show how happy he was that someone else shared his interests. It was wiped from him completely once the conversation moved full to literature, and without delay, he lay a copy of the book on the table between them.
"Teach's got us reading 'The Tale of the Heike.'" He said, hesitating a little - like he was unsure about the title of the book itself, let alone what lay between the covers. "Reading the thing's not a problem, I'm halfway through it." He didn't sound particularly happy about the fact, but if the torn-off scrap of paper lodged between the pages was any indication, it certainly wasn't a lie. Perhaps he just found the book dull. "But we gotta cover stuff like whether it's anti- or pro-war, religion, how reliable it is if you're gonna use it for history... A bunch of abstract stuff."
He shrugged lightly, as though it were no big deal, but the clenching of his jaw and slight twinge of disdain to his tone betrayed him. The book had been getting to him more than he cared to let on.
<Pose Tracker> Jun Kashihara has posed.
Jun does catch that smile--and the way that Hyousuke tries so hard to hide it. He thus pretends he didn't notice it. Perhaps Hyousuke's self-conscious about this particular interest, though it's beyond Jun why he would be. Sometimes boys are like that, though--and if he isn't self-conscious, Jun doesn't want to make him be by making a fuss.
"Oh? That's good to hear," Jun says of Hyousuke's reading progress--but his tone is cautious, because he hears Hyousuke's own unenthused tone. He hums thoughtfully, noting that discrepancy between his body language and his facial expression. "And you're having trouble grasping those sorts of abstract things?" he wonders. "Fortunately for you, literature, by its nature, is highly up to interpretation. You don't need to overthink it; just say what you think and point out the parts in The Tale of the Heike that make you think that way."
He is surprised that they're requesting something like that for the essay--but pleasantly so. Maybe the other teachers are starting to step up their game after seeing Ooshiro-sensei and Marlowe-sensei's passion.
"Do you want to discuss what you think of it so far? Or would you rather switch to a more concrete subject for now and come back to this once you've finished?" Jun prompts. He did mention that he's also good at mathematics, and there's nothing more concrete than that.
<Pose Tracker> Hyousuke Suzuki has posed.
Hyousuke considered the matter. There could be very little doubt he was - the scrunching of his features and the way he looked down at the table all pointed towards him concentrating all of his brainpower towards figuring out what he wanted to do. Were one to listen closely, they might have heard the cogs whirring and grinding in his head as they attempted to churn out a conclusion, while the man himself remained silent. He continued on in such a way for a few moments, before eventually looking back up to Jun with a remarkable amount of conviction for someone who was just choosing what to spend the day studying.
"I want to figure the book thing out first." He said, his voice matching his expression with how determined it was. "I can do maths whenever. But I don't want to spend half my summer reading this..." He gestured vaguely towards the book, disdain creeping into the last word before he had a chance to bite it back. "...And then find find out I don't understand any of it. If I learn how to figure out all that subtext stuff now, I'll only have to reread half of it." He laughed a little, and gave a slight grin to accompany it. Both carried hints of ruefulness, but there was scant bitterness to be found - just him trying to make light of the situation.
<Pose Tracker> Jun Kashihara has posed.
It might take Hyousuke a good long while to process his thoughts, but by god if he doesn't put his all into it. Jun can respect that. He sips his tea two or three more times while Hyousuke mulls (mills?) it over.
"All right. That's a wise choice, really. Getting the hardest thing out of the way first means everyone else won't seem so bad by comparison," Jun says as he smiles back. "All right then--please give me your thoughts so far. As I mentioned, literature is highly subjective, so chances are good as long as you've been thinking about the deeper themes at all, you won't need to worry too much about expressing those thoughts, but I can give you some guidance on if you're on-base or not."
Even a surface level reading is more than most expect from a Kasugayama student--but Hyousuke seems so determined to do well that Jun would like to help him do better than that.
<Pose Tracker> Hyousuke Suzuki has posed.
"It's boring as hell."
Hyousuke had attempted to remain upbeat and at least nominally polite throughout the entire interaction, but the words spilled out of his mouth before he had a chance to bite his own tongue. The short statement might have been enough to convey his thoughts, but the fact that he spoke the words with undisguised disdain gave them an edge they might not have otherwise had. Realising that it was too late to keep himself from speaking, and that attempting to disguise it as anything but frustration with the literature, Hyousuke just came out with it. Even if he did try and keep his tone a little lighter, if only to keep it from seeming like he was venting to a stranger.
"It's a really old book, so it's hard enough to figure out what they're trying to say in the first place. Then they throw in a bunch of metaphors and subtext, so I gotta try and figure *that* out after." He took a sip of his tea, partly to soothe a parched throat, partly to give himself a moment to calm down before his emotions got the better of him. He'd had enough of that lately, and he didn't need it spilling over into conversations with virtual strangers. "I know they're talking about war and honour and religion and stuff, but I don't know what any of that's supposed to mean."
He opened the book and pointed to a section early in the book. "I think this bit's talking about how nothing's permanent and being too proud gets you killed? But then you got a bunch of guys later on acting like heroes, and I don't see anything bad about them in the rest of the book."
<Pose Tracker> Jun Kashihara has posed.
Jun can't help it: he laughs at Hyousuke's blunt opinion. "Old literature can be inaccessible to modern readers sometimes. It's hard to get excited by something you can't understand," he says, amused. "But please do go on."
Sure enough, the fact that The Tale of the Heike is such an old story is one of Hyousuke's troubles with it. Jun nods him on as he pauses to take a tea break, and then looks down at the section he indicates.
"That might be one of your problems. You're searching for a consistent meaning, but The Tale of the Heike was written by many different people, not just a single author like you typically see today. Different people naturally have different thoughts, opinions, and viewpoints, so inevitably you're going to get contradictions in the text like the one you just pointed out." He sets down his teacup and folds his hands under his chin. "Why don't you focus on that for your essay? It might help you understand the subtext as you do. In the meantime, we can go over some common visual metaphors from the era."
Jun retrieves one of the textbooks he brought with him on the topic of interpreting literature from out of his schoolbag, and also prompts Hyousuke to get a notebook and take notes. There's a lot to cover, but thankfully, since he's already read The Tale of the Heike, he knows which ones to focus on and explain to Hyousuke, which he proceeds to do. He might or might not 'get' it, but at least he'll know what to look out for as he continues to read.
"...Does that help it make any more sense?" he asks once he's done an initial explanation. "Do let me know if I went too fast or didn't explain anything clearly."
<Pose Tracker> Hyousuke Suzuki has posed.
Hyousuke's notes were a mess of lines, circles, and glyphs that could be described as letters in only the most generous of senses. How anyone could decipher those lines of chickenscratch and scribbled ink was a mystery, but there had been no shortage of passion while he took those notes, and no shortage of focus when Jun showed him something he felt he'd need to focus on. The pages he'd written on resembled the ramblings of a madman more than they did neatly-organised notes by the time he was finished, but he seemed markedly less frustrated by the end of it. Perhaps the notes weren't as nonsensical as they appeared.
"...A little." Hyousuke said, after deliberating on the answer to give to Jun. "Some of this stuff's still not clear. But I think I can figure some of it out." 'Some' was enough have him sound more than a little hopeful, however - a definite improvement on what he'd been feeling before. "I think I'm gonna have to read the first half of it again to know what I'm supposed to put in the report... But it's sure as hell better than reading *all* of it again." He'd made the point before, but the second time came with relief, rather than an attempt at levity.
Another pause in the conversation. Another thoughtful look. And then, another statement with a twinge of relief to each word. "Thanks. I'm not good with any of this smart stuff, so this is a real help."
<Pose Tracker> Jun Kashihara has posed.
As long as Hyousuke can decipher his own writing, that's what counts. ...Jun just won't be asking to review his notes anytime soon. He honestly has to wonder if Hyousuke can decipher his own writing, but he continues to be so earnest and significantly less frustrated that he must.
"Literary analysis is a complicated topic. You aren't going to understand everything right away. The fact that you're trying to tackle it head-on, and willing to re-read any of your reading for it, is praiseworthy," Jun reassures Hyousuke. "As you re-read, I'm sure it'll click that much more for you now that you have a better understanding of the symbols used in the text."
He smiles at his words of gratitude. "You're very welcome. I think you may be better at it than you realize, though. As Edison said, genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration, and it's clear you're willing to put in the hard work."
Surprisingly so, even. There are so many students at Kasugayama High who've given up on their academic futures, but Hyousuke continues to work hard.
"Shall we review the parts you're still unclear on, in the meantime?" he offers. "We can also take a break and have another cup of tea in the meanwhile. I'm sure you need time to mentally digest, so to speak, and I'm sure another cup will help it all go down smoothly."
Tea metaphor...! Maybe Hyousuke can use those for himself?
<Pose Tracker> Hyousuke Suzuki has posed.
A tea metaphor. Or was it a wry remark that he was supposed to laugh at? For once, Hyousuke didn't think too hard on something said during their conversation, instead just assuming that it was best to offer a wry smile back and not overthink things. Besides, he'd done too much thinking that day, and his brain needed a break, lest it overheat. Perhaps, if one squinted hard enough, faint wisps of smoke could be seen emerging from his ears as he tried to mentally organise all the information he'd been given in their time together.
"Speaking of tea, I wanted to try their pastries too." he leaned in a little, as if sharing some confidential information, before glancing in the general direction of the counter. "I heard they do some Western-style stuff here using whatever seasonal fruits they can get. The reviews on this place say it's worth coming here for just those. Hey, why don't I get us some? I want to stretch my legs for a bit anyway." Hyousuke didn't wait for a response. With the prospect of sweet treats to accompany his already-delectable tea, it was doubtful that anything between Heaven and Earth could stop him.