2026-09-28: Of Bentos and Brothers
- Log: Of Bentos and Brothers
- Cast: Hyousuke Suzuki, Ichika Kawase
- Where: Kasugayama High School
- OOC Date: 2026-09-28
- IC Date: Tue, Jan 15 2013
- Summary: Hyousuke has finally worked up the courage to talk to his brother, but as Ichika finds out on Kasugayama's rooftop, he's got mixed feelings about it.
(|=============== Kasugayama High School - Classroom Building ================|)
-=============================================== Sumaru City/Hirasaka Ward ====-
Nicknamed "Kasu High" by its students and "Cuss High" by its detractors,
Kasugayama High School's poor reputation is reflected in the dinginess of the
building itself. It's been around since before World War II, as reflected by the
fact that its basement was used as an air raid shelter back then, so many of its
facilities are woefully out of date. Many if not most of its students are
delinquents, and the teachers turn a blind eye to all manner of bad behavior.
Its main three floors contain the school's various classrooms for its three
years of students, who are overwhelmingly boys. The boys wear a one-note teal
uniform with black buttons and a high collar, while the girls wear an equally
unexciting sailor uniform in teal with a black neckerchief and a single white
line on the cuffs and collar.
Though some girls attend, their generally rough nature and the severely unequal
numbers mean many of the male students lament their lack of dating options and
seek out girls from other schools. It has a large gym and a huge track circle
out back, and the roof is a decent place for students to hang out.
(|============================================================================|)
<Pose Tracker> Hyousuke Suzuki has posed.
A bitter chill plagued the roof. Though December had long since passed, and January was halfway through, they'd not escaped winter's clutches quite yet, and the colder temperatures - in conjunction with the breezes that whipped past the wire fences surrounding the roof's edges - left the place far colder than the school below. Yet, despite all that, Hyousuke couldn't help but take pleasure in his lunches there. It was a quiet and contemplative space (a rarity on Kasugayama's grounds), there was ample space to sit for anyone that didn't mind the floor, and the view was a lot more pleasant than lengths of concrete or the hustle and bustle of lunchtime.
The bento box he'd brought with him was a rather unremarkable thing, all things considered. A solid, sturdy, and undecorated thing, it didn't have much personality beyond being a reliable piece of kit, but it held food and stayed shut. That was enough for Hyousuke, evidently. The food inside seemed to follow a similar trend. The rice had been packed in haphazardly, the egg rolls were messy chunks, and he'd only bothered cutting down the hotdogs to size - there wasn't a hint of artistic flourish to them. It was a roughly-cut mishmash of foods, but it was functional and he seemed to enjoy the taste well enough.
"Pudding's last playdate went well." Hyousuke said, either continuing a conversation, or starting it again after a lull in his and Ichika's. "I think it's gonna be a while until Lance gets used to him, never mind other dogs, but Tsubasa-san seems pretty confident about it." That was the impression he'd gotten during his last visit to their place, at least.
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
It's cold. Cold as balls!
But Ichika doesn't care about that too much; she's tough! Tough, and fashionable! ...yeah she's still baring her midriff in uniform, don't worry about it. At least she has a long skirt.
Ichika has her own lunch, which she made herself; it isn't super cute or anything, but it is well-made and functional without being ugly or aesthetically unpleasing. Her rice is neat. Everything is orderly.
The difference between bentos...!
"That's good," Ichika says. "I bet they're super cute. ...Yeah, they've got good reaosn to be. They're really good with dogs now." Which is impressive, considering.
<Pose Tracker> Hyousuke Suzuki has posed.
"Yeah, they've got a knack for it. Lance seems real happy with 'em..." Hyousuke smiled, and it was a genuine look. There was little doubt that he was happy for Tsubasa and Lance both. Yet, when he spoke, he seemed to trail off a little. He stared out into the distance, fiddled with his chopsticks without plucking anything from his messily-assembled assortment of foodstuffs, and remained quiet for a few moments longer than might have been expected for a simple lull in the conversation. "I just hope I can do the same thing for Pudding."
Hyousuke popped an egg roll into his mouth. Partly because he was hungry and lunchtime was limited, but also to stall for a moment longer to organise his thoughts. Even when he did finally speak, having presumably given some sort of shape to what he wanted to say, he didn't speak with his usual blundering confidence.
"But at least I've got a place for us. I think. They take pets, and I can probably afford it so long as I get enough hours and do a few, uh, side gigs. It's just that I can't sign the paperwork myself. I..." He paused, swallowed empty air, and forced himself to continue. "...I had to call my brother for it."
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"She is," Ichika says. "...But you know, a lot of what it takes is just caring. And you've got that in spades." It's nice to see a real smile out of Hyousuke--something she's not used to except over food, out of him. Still...
He's stalling. And then--
"Yeah?" Ichika asks. "That's great! Having a place to go is really important." Pause. he can't sign the paperwork. Ichika knows how that goes; she's lucky on that front. But...
"How'd that go?" she asks, her tone more sympathetic in preparation.
BBS: New BB message (1142) posted to 'Code' by Junes: Bugfixes
<Pose Tracker> Hyousuke Suzuki has posed.
A long, thoughtful, quiet filled the air. The sound of whipping winds was about the loudest thing there, with even Hyousuke's breathing beginning to grow long and low. He did not so much speak the words as allow them to fall free of him - there was none of the usual bravado behind what he said.
"I don't know." Was the best, most honest, answer that he could give her in that moment. He was silent again, and stared into the middle distance, though his mind seemed to be somewhere else entirely.
"We haven't spoken since he... Since I..." Hyousuke's lips went taut. Every fibre of his being railed against that spark of honesty in him, screaming at him to smother it and leave the matter alone. His good friends would not pry if he did not want her to, of that he was confident. He was positive nobody else knew him well enough to even begin poking and prodding him about it. The matter could be avoided, and life could continue on as normal. But as he considered it, the words of friends and mentors alike began to tease at the edges of his mind, and began to force that screaming back.
If he could not be honest with a friend that had fought by his side, then who? If he could not be honest now, with nobody around to hear them, and nothing to interrupt save the passage of time, then when? If he could not speak freely about helping his own pet, and striving for a better life for both them and himself, then what could he speak true on? Hyousuke firmed his lips, and steadied his voice. He still did not seem entirely sure of himself, but it was a far better state than moments before.
"We haven't spoken since he got me out of going to juvie. We hadn't spoken for years before that, but he promised he'd help me with anything he could if I called him. I just... I didn't *want* to call him."
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Winds..
He doesn't know; it's honest, at least. Ichika turns her face towards Hyousuke's to listen. She can tell how difficult it is for him, without having to read his mind; talking about himself is far from Hyouuske's favorite pastime. Still, eventually...
"I see," Ichika says, and looks thoughtfuly forward. "I guess... that wouldn't be a good memory."
"Why not?" she wonders.
GAME: Save complete.
<Pose Tracker> Hyousuke Suzuki has posed.
Why not, she asks. As if he had an answer for that he could put into words. Tempted as he was to give her a bitter laugh, and make some wry remark, he kept quiet. He wasn't there to try and brush things off. She'd earned his honesty, and he needed to tell *someone* about what had happened. About what *was* happening. A breath escaped him as a long and low sigh, and he lowered his chopsticks onto the box. He'd stopped eating by that point, instead fiddling with the two pointed lengths to try and keep his fingers busy.
"Our parents were pieces of shit." Hyousuke said. Blunt as the answer was, there was no good way to dress it up - the bitterness in his voice alone told a story. "But he got out. He got a government job while I was young and moved to Tokyo, then just... I dunno... fucking vanished." The hesitance came back, creeping like ivy around hi throat, strangling the life from him as well as any confidence born from his spite. "Ten fucking years he left me with them, telling me how I should've been more like him. How I was a fucking failure, and- He wasn't *there.* He could've helped get me out, he could've told them to knock it off, he could've- I don't know, he could've just fucking *called* for once. And then he swans back in when I'm about to get dragged off, and he acts like he's been my best friend my whole fucking life."
He paused, collecting himself, and tried to keep the bitterness in his words in check.
"...I think the worst part's that he means it when he says he wants to help me. Asshole stuck his neck out for me to get me here, and now he's doing it again so I can move outta the dorms. I just... I don't get what he's trying to do here."
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Ichika has feelings about brothers--the idea of being distant from a sibling is not foreign to her, either. Not with how things were with Ririka for a while.
Hyousuke, though, does explain. That bitterness does tell a story to her. "I see..."
"That sucks," Ichika says first, but her tone is much softer than her rough words. "Being left..."
"Mm."
"I don't want to make something up and speak for him," she says. "But it sounds like... yeah, you believe him."
"That's hard. I think... you don't owe him some kind of tender relationship, for that. ...But you might owe yourself the chance to ask him."
<Pose Tracker> Hyousuke Suzuki has posed.
"Maybe." Hyousuke said, forcing the word out just so he could give *a* response before the quiet dragged on too long. His mouth twitched and shifted, trying to find an expression he thought fit his mood, but his mind was a storm of emotions and disparate thoughts. He could not settle on what he thought of the whole situation, and neither could his expression. "I might not owe him a relationship, but I... I dunno, I feel like I owe him *something.* He could've just stood back and pretended I didn't exist, and now he's risking his reputation for me."
"Hell, I don't even know what I'd ask him if we spoke." He paused, shrugged, and let his posture slacken as his muscles abandoned their strength. "...Maybe I'd just ask him 'why.'"
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Maybe. Ichika watches Hyousuke; she doesn't mind the quiet for a while, as he gathers his thoughts on a fraught topic. What he owes...
"That's fair," Ichika says. "It's important to me... saying that you don't owe somebody affection, or whatever. But..."
"Maybe what you owe him is to make the most of it," she suggests. "He's risking for you--you should make sure it's worth it, as much as you can."
She pauses. "But I think that's a good question. I think you should, when you're ready."
<Pose Tracker> Hyousuke Suzuki has posed.
Hyousuke kicked himself mentally for not making the connection earlier. So lost was he in his own thoughts that Ichika's own had slipped his mind. He just counted himself lucky both of them seemed to be taking it in stride. He supposed it was best just to move on - if she didn't want to call much attention to it, neither would he.
"I don't know if I'll ever be ready." He confessed, a little glumly. "It took me ages just to call him, and I only did that because Pudding needed a place, not me. But... I gotta do it, even if I'm not. Can't just put this off forever. Got someone counting on me to get this place."
That 'someone' wasn't even Hyousuke himself, but that hardly mattered to him.
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
It doesn't bother Ichika.
"Sometimes you're not," Ichika says. "....I think that's right, though. Ready or not... You owe it to yourself to not put it off forever."
Counting him...
Ichika smiles. "That's right. You've got Pudding to think of, now."
<Pose Tracker> Hyousuke Suzuki has posed.
Though Hyousuke's expression had been in flux the entire conversation, it stayed stable for quite a while when Ichika mentioned that he owed it to himself.
"For... myself?" He asked, the words lingering on his mind far longer than they did on his lips. "I... yeah, I guess I do." He said. His mouth moved strangely, and the words felt odd when he spoke them. He wasn't entirely sure he believed what he'd said, or that he agreed, though that might have been more a consequence of not thinking about it that way until someone had bludgeoned him over the head with the notion.
"...I guess I owe it to the both of us." He paused, steeled himself, then spoke again. "...And you. Tsubasa-san too. And everyone else that's been helping me. You guys believed in me, and I... I dunno. It means a lot."
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"For you," Ichika reiterates. "Yeah!" She's pleased to hear Hyousuke acknowledge it, anyway; getting him to understand that he could deserve good things has been... a project, to say the least. Even the smallest progress towards it is nice.
"I'm glad," Ichika says. "That it means something. It's because we're friends, Hyousuke-kun. ...We want to see good things for you. That's what that mens."
"So good luck, OK? And if it gets weird, you can talk to me."
GAME: Save complete.
<Pose Tracker> Hyousuke Suzuki has posed.
Despite having faced down monstrosities many times his size, serial killers with no qualms about making sure his death hurt, and the physical manifestations of humanity's massed thoughts, it was Ichika's earnest desire to see his life get better that made him stop and start. He found himself lost for words, staring bashfully down at his lunch, and popping a chunk of rice into his mouth just so he had something to focus on other than his complete lack of things to say in response.
"...Then I guess I'll be counting on you again. Thank you. I... It's..."
He frowned as his train of thought began to falter, and he sighed, eventually abandoning it altogether. "...Thanks. For everything."