[ yikes. okay, that definitely wasn't the reaction he was looking for, but he supposes he shouldn't be surprised. while his own reaction to telepathic communication wasn't quite so... dramatic, he was still freaked out. he runs a hand through his hair and, not for the first time, asks himself how he got into this terrible mess. ]
Relax! I'm not going to hurt you. Er... Listen, haven't you been noticing something like, I don't know, radio static in your head?
— Wait. Can you do me a favor and describe your surroundings? Maybe I can find you. Then this won't be so... well, weird.
[come to think of it, she had heard something like that -- a low level hum in the back of her mind. she had chalked it up to the stress of being away from... well, everything she knew. but now that she narrowed in more...
wow. she could hear -- other people's voices. intermingling, mixing, and not entirely clear, yes, but they were there all the same. it was -- amazing, in a way she wasn't sure how to describe.
but the first person had asked for more information, so she refocused her attention on that.]
-- Oh! Um, I'm inside this mansion in the middle of this forest. I just left the library, I guess you would call it? It's upstairs and had a large glass ceiling.
Unless there are two mansions, I'm probably not far. Just give me a minute, okay?
[ yamagi hasn't run into anyone yet without the use of telepathy, so it's a bit relieving to know that soon he can interact with another actual human being in the flesh. he's not the most social person, preferring to keep to himself and his work, but the circumstances aren't anything close to normal. he can't afford to be his plain and reserved self when he has no idea where he is, where tekkadan is, where shino is —
she can probably hear his thoughts, too, he realizes with some degree of embarrassment. they've been racing a mile a minute. yamagi attempts to shut them down while he loops around the bottom floor until he finds a spiral staircase, pads upstairs, and peers through every door until he sees a girl in what looks like... is that a school uniform?
huh. ]
Um.
[ he shuffles his feet, awkwardly standing in the middle of the long, ornate hallway. ]
Sorry. I wasn't trying to impose. I know how unsettling it is to know that anyone can be hearing your own thoughts, so...
[ his cheeks color the slightest bit and he averts his gaze. he doesn't know how to talk to cute girls? not that he has any interest, but regardless... ]
[kotori was feeling the loss of her friends, so she understood the mild ebb of his feelings all too well. then a sudden thought occurs to her -- isn't this an invasion of privacy? especially when he's thinking about those people so fondly...
jerking her head toward the side, she focused on staying still and waiting to be found. that window sure is interesting. yep.
when yamagi eventually arrives, she bowed, low enough that her ponytail flopped over her face, before standing and brushing her hair out of her eyes.]
I'm Kotori Minami! It's nice to meet you, Yamagi-kun.
[she hesitated for a moment before shaking her head and letting her gaze drift to the side shyly too.]
No, I'm sorry for... overreacting. It's just, well, I've never had anything like that happen to me before. I've never even seen a ghost before, so supernatural things like that -- they're completely beyond me...
You didn't overreact. I'm still not sure what's going on here. All I know is that I've been caught lost in my own thoughts one too many times by total and complete strangers, so...
[ he looks down at his feet. it really is embarrassing... he's glad that, if kotori heard anything, she's nice enough to keep quiet about it. ]
But putting that aside— I've never heard music like that before. Are you a singer?
[ maybe changing the topic will distract them both. yamagi doesn't know what he's doing. he's just going to wing it. at this point, a distraction is more than welcome. ]
Me either, so at least we're together like that! But you're the first person I've met here, so you really caught me off guard...
[kotori didn't need to be a mind reader (or to use her newfound mind-reading powers) to sense yamagi's nerves. he reminded her of eli almost instantly -- distant, but not unkind about it. and like eli, she was inclined to let him come to her on her own terms.
she nods at his question, a warm smile coming over her features.]
I am! Well, sort of. I'm a school idol with a group called µ's. We're all amateurs, but we work really hard to give the best performances we can.
[ being an orphan, yamagi is only vaguely familiar with anything related to school, although he did learn how to read and write, unlike some of the others. still, he could recognize that much. ]
A school idol... ?
[ idols, though — that's a completely foreign concept. it's not a stretch to guess that she can probably sense his confusion and curiosity. despite his situation, yamagi likes learning about new things and new cultures. it's a positive. ]
[considering how pervasive school idols were around japan, the curious thought is he from another country...? passed through her mind. but just as quickly as it came, it was discarded; anybody can enjoy music, no matter where they're from.]
Mm-hmm! Our school was going to be shut down due to a lack of applicants, so we formed µ's to try and draw interest to it. We write our own lyrics, compose our own music, choreograph our own dances, and make our own costumes! So we're "school idols".
[as kotori ticked off the things µs did together, she obviously radiated pride. she didn't think about it too often -- those after school activities were normally rowdy fun with her and her friends, and never really felt like work even when they were being pushed to their physical limits -- but listing it out like that felt a lot more impressive.]
[ yamagi's eyes go a bit wide as kotori prattles on. he can't imagine doing even one of those things, let alone all of them. ]
That's amazing... Let me guess. You woke up here and you're not sure where the rest of µ's is, right... ?
[ Can Relate™ ]
By the way, were you able to? Draw more applicants in, I mean.
[ he is genuinely curious. what kotori is describing sounds really impressive to him, even though he still doesn't entirely get it. he thinks he'd have to see a performance to really understand. ]
[kotori deflated a little at that. yamagi obviously understood how scary and a bit painful it was to be somewhere like this without your friends... but for their sake, she would keep a healthy smile on her face. they wouldn't want her to be sad, and she wouldn't want to be sad for them. that sort of mutual love was the foundation of µ.]
-- I think so. We hadn't got the results for Love Live back yet -- it's a competition among school idols -- but we did really well. A lot of people were cheering our names.
[she paused momentarily, then raised a finger to her lips.]
... Do I sound like I'm bragging? Sorry. How about you, Yamagi-kun? What did you do?
[he wasn't wearing a school uniform, but he didn't look that much older than her, so...]
[ yamagi feels a little bad that he brought it up — a smile suits kotori so much better than that fleeting distant expression — but it's not like the knowledge that they're both missing people wasn't right there. there's no real need to avoid it when it's something they're both dealing with.
he holds his hands up and shakes his head, the bangs covering his eyes doing little to hide his expression. ]
No, not at all! Like I said, it really is amazing. I can't imagine how hard you all must work.
[ yamagi deflates just a little bit before answering her innocent question, averting his gaze. he's always had a bit of an inferiority complex when it comes to tekkadan's pilots, and it seems like it extends to other things, too. he can't talk about anything as exciting as what kotori has to share, right? ]
Me? Ah... Nothing special. I'm just a mechanic. I work on machines all day and make sure they're in top shape for their pilots to ride. I guess I handle more technical things.
[ shino crosses his mind again. yamagi wishes he could stop worrying about him. he's just always so reckless he's worried he's gotten himself into trouble, or... or something. anything. ]
[not to say it couldn't be work, but really, all things considered she was incredibly lucky.
kotori tilted her head to the side slightly when she heard yamagi's response. she'd thought they were similar ages, but to already have a full time job, he might be a little older -- perhaps in his twenties? either way, he seemed a bit saddened by the question, so she thought she'd give him some (genuine) encouragement in the form of her true thoughts:]
A mechanic? For... airplanes? That's amazing, Yamagi-kun! You must be so smart to know how to put them all back together! And all the other pilots depend on you to keep them safe and sound -- I wish I could do something like that.
[cause airplanes are what you fly around right? although rough work like that probably wouldn't suit a gentle bird like her in the long run, it was clear from her tone just how impressed she really was.
kotori really wasn't aiming to read his thoughts, but she had to admit, she was curious -- about the "shino" he kept drifting to, and about the extent of her new found mind reading abilities... instead of "sending" anything verbally, she concentrated and attempted to send a picture -- more like a quick flash of a memory.
within it, honoka was on one side of her and umi on the other. the three of them were taking their daily walk from otonokizaka, late summer light filtering through the trees and presenting everything in orange hues. honoka had a piece of bread in her mouth, and umi scolded her on not taking greater care to keep her shirt and mouth clean; idols must be ready to be approached at any time!, umi said within it, stern but not unkind. aw, umi-chan, i'm just so hungry from practice... honoka replied with a visible pout despite her bread, and between the two, kotori giggled. it was a memory that radiated fondness; the bond of friendship between the girls was palpable enough to serve up like a strawberry shortcake.
the connotation was clear: the same? different?]
Edited (i accidentally a word) 2017-07-07 01:39 (UTC)
[ yamagi can't even remember how long he's been working. growing up as an orphan among other orphans, you do your share. that's part of the very foundation of tekkadan.
a blush creeps onto his cheeks, lips curving into a small smile. it's impossible not to when he can tell that kotori's enthusiasm is genuine, that she speaks from her heart. he decides there's no real reason to go into the logistics of piloting a gundam; if he's completely unfamiliar with the concept of a school idol, then chances are, kotori is unfamiliar with his life on mars. ]
Not exactly airplanes, but... Something like that, I suppose. I still wish I could help everyone more, but... I do what I can.
[ he looks down at his gloved hands. yamagi may look delicate, but there are callouses underneath, proof of his hard work using all different kinds of tools to fix what's broken and keep up with regular maintenance on what isn't.
yamagi sees the picture as soon as kotori imagines it. everything about it is so vivid and vibrant and colorful, it's impossible to miss. that pure bond of close friendship is able to come through as clear as day. it makes something in his chest constrict.
yamagi has something similar in tekkadan, his precious found family, a bond tying them together unlike any other. there's an image of orga, mikazuki, takaki, eugene, kudelia and atra and the rest standing below a bright blue sky — everyone is there, but shino is reaching out his hand in the middle, smile as bright and blinding as ever. there's a metaphorical line between tekkadan and shino that crosses the barrier of family and friendship. shino is shining just a little brighter than the others, like he's the center of yamagi's world, a shooting star that he's always trying to reach up and grasp.
i need you! i'll make sure to protect you, so don't let go of my hand! those words are burned into yamagi's memories. he closes his eyes for a brief moment. yamagi's wordless answer to kotori's silent question: different. ]
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no subject
Relax! I'm not going to hurt you. Er... Listen, haven't you been noticing something like, I don't know, radio static in your head?
— Wait. Can you do me a favor and describe your surroundings? Maybe I can find you. Then this won't be so... well, weird.
no subject
[come to think of it, she had heard something like that -- a low level hum in the back of her mind. she had chalked it up to the stress of being away from... well, everything she knew. but now that she narrowed in more...
wow. she could hear -- other people's voices. intermingling, mixing, and not entirely clear, yes, but they were there all the same. it was -- amazing, in a way she wasn't sure how to describe.
but the first person had asked for more information, so she refocused her attention on that.]
-- Oh! Um, I'm inside this mansion in the middle of this forest. I just left the library, I guess you would call it? It's upstairs and had a large glass ceiling.
no subject
[ yamagi hasn't run into anyone yet without the use of telepathy, so it's a bit relieving to know that soon he can interact with another actual human being in the flesh. he's not the most social person, preferring to keep to himself and his work, but the circumstances aren't anything close to normal. he can't afford to be his plain and reserved self when he has no idea where he is, where tekkadan is, where shino is —
she can probably hear his thoughts, too, he realizes with some degree of embarrassment. they've been racing a mile a minute. yamagi attempts to shut them down while he loops around the bottom floor until he finds a spiral staircase, pads upstairs, and peers through every door until he sees a girl in what looks like... is that a school uniform?
huh. ]
Um.
[ he shuffles his feet, awkwardly standing in the middle of the long, ornate hallway. ]
Sorry. I wasn't trying to impose. I know how unsettling it is to know that anyone can be hearing your own thoughts, so...
[ his cheeks color the slightest bit and he averts his gaze. he doesn't know how to talk to cute girls? not that he has any interest, but regardless... ]
I'm Yamagi.
no subject
jerking her head toward the side, she focused on staying still and waiting to be found. that window sure is interesting. yep.
when yamagi eventually arrives, she bowed, low enough that her ponytail flopped over her face, before standing and brushing her hair out of her eyes.]
I'm Kotori Minami! It's nice to meet you, Yamagi-kun.
[she hesitated for a moment before shaking her head and letting her gaze drift to the side shyly too.]
No, I'm sorry for... overreacting. It's just, well, I've never had anything like that happen to me before. I've never even seen a ghost before, so supernatural things like that -- they're completely beyond me...
no subject
[ he looks down at his feet. it really is embarrassing... he's glad that, if kotori heard anything, she's nice enough to keep quiet about it. ]
But putting that aside— I've never heard music like that before. Are you a singer?
[ maybe changing the topic will distract them both. yamagi doesn't know what he's doing. he's just going to wing it. at this point, a distraction is more than welcome. ]
no subject
[kotori didn't need to be a mind reader (or to use her newfound mind-reading powers) to sense yamagi's nerves. he reminded her of eli almost instantly -- distant, but not unkind about it. and like eli, she was inclined to let him come to her on her own terms.
she nods at his question, a warm smile coming over her features.]
I am! Well, sort of. I'm a school idol with a group called µ's. We're all amateurs, but we work really hard to give the best performances we can.
no subject
A school idol... ?
[ idols, though — that's a completely foreign concept. it's not a stretch to guess that she can probably sense his confusion and curiosity. despite his situation, yamagi likes learning about new things and new cultures. it's a positive. ]
Sorry, I've— I've never heard the term before.
no subject
Mm-hmm! Our school was going to be shut down due to a lack of applicants, so we formed µ's to try and draw interest to it. We write our own lyrics, compose our own music, choreograph our own dances, and make our own costumes! So we're "school idols".
[as kotori ticked off the things µs did together, she obviously radiated pride. she didn't think about it too often -- those after school activities were normally rowdy fun with her and her friends, and never really felt like work even when they were being pushed to their physical limits -- but listing it out like that felt a lot more impressive.]
she's so cute...
That's amazing... Let me guess. You woke up here and you're not sure where the rest of µ's is, right... ?
[ Can Relate™ ]
By the way, were you able to? Draw more applicants in, I mean.
[ he is genuinely curious. what kotori is describing sounds really impressive to him, even though he still doesn't entirely get it. he thinks he'd have to see a performance to really understand. ]
you're cute and so is yamagi
[kotori deflated a little at that. yamagi obviously understood how scary and a bit painful it was to be somewhere like this without your friends... but for their sake, she would keep a healthy smile on her face. they wouldn't want her to be sad, and she wouldn't want to be sad for them. that sort of mutual love was the foundation of µ.]
-- I think so. We hadn't got the results for Love Live back yet -- it's a competition among school idols -- but we did really well. A lot of people were cheering our names.
[she paused momentarily, then raised a finger to her lips.]
... Do I sound like I'm bragging? Sorry. How about you, Yamagi-kun? What did you do?
[he wasn't wearing a school uniform, but he didn't look that much older than her, so...]
////
he holds his hands up and shakes his head, the bangs covering his eyes doing little to hide his expression. ]
No, not at all! Like I said, it really is amazing. I can't imagine how hard you all must work.
[ yamagi deflates just a little bit before answering her innocent question, averting his gaze. he's always had a bit of an inferiority complex when it comes to tekkadan's pilots, and it seems like it extends to other things, too. he can't talk about anything as exciting as what kotori has to share, right? ]
Me? Ah... Nothing special. I'm just a mechanic. I work on machines all day and make sure they're in top shape for their pilots to ride. I guess I handle more technical things.
[ shino crosses his mind again. yamagi wishes he could stop worrying about him. he's just always so reckless he's worried he's gotten himself into trouble, or... or something. anything. ]
tf i thought i replied to this
[not to say it couldn't be work, but really, all things considered she was incredibly lucky.
kotori tilted her head to the side slightly when she heard yamagi's response. she'd thought they were similar ages, but to already have a full time job, he might be a little older -- perhaps in his twenties? either way, he seemed a bit saddened by the question, so she thought she'd give him some (genuine) encouragement in the form of her true thoughts:]
A mechanic? For... airplanes? That's amazing, Yamagi-kun! You must be so smart to know how to put them all back together! And all the other pilots depend on you to keep them safe and sound -- I wish I could do something like that.
[cause airplanes are what you fly around right? although rough work like that probably wouldn't suit a gentle bird like her in the long run, it was clear from her tone just how impressed she really was.
kotori really wasn't aiming to read his thoughts, but she had to admit, she was curious -- about the "shino" he kept drifting to, and about the extent of her new found mind reading abilities... instead of "sending" anything verbally, she concentrated and attempted to send a picture -- more like a quick flash of a memory.
within it, honoka was on one side of her and umi on the other. the three of them were taking their daily walk from otonokizaka, late summer light filtering through the trees and presenting everything in orange hues. honoka had a piece of bread in her mouth, and umi scolded her on not taking greater care to keep her shirt and mouth clean; idols must be ready to be approached at any time!, umi said within it, stern but not unkind. aw, umi-chan, i'm just so hungry from practice... honoka replied with a visible pout despite her bread, and between the two, kotori giggled. it was a memory that radiated fondness; the bond of friendship between the girls was palpable enough to serve up like a strawberry shortcake.
the connotation was clear: the same? different?]
sorry he's incapable of getting gay
a blush creeps onto his cheeks, lips curving into a small smile. it's impossible not to when he can tell that kotori's enthusiasm is genuine, that she speaks from her heart. he decides there's no real reason to go into the logistics of piloting a gundam; if he's completely unfamiliar with the concept of a school idol, then chances are, kotori is unfamiliar with his life on mars. ]
Not exactly airplanes, but... Something like that, I suppose. I still wish I could help everyone more, but... I do what I can.
[ he looks down at his gloved hands. yamagi may look delicate, but there are callouses underneath, proof of his hard work using all different kinds of tools to fix what's broken and keep up with regular maintenance on what isn't.
yamagi sees the picture as soon as kotori imagines it. everything about it is so vivid and vibrant and colorful, it's impossible to miss. that pure bond of close friendship is able to come through as clear as day. it makes something in his chest constrict.
yamagi has something similar in tekkadan, his precious found family, a bond tying them together unlike any other. there's an image of orga, mikazuki, takaki, eugene, kudelia and atra and the rest standing below a bright blue sky — everyone is there, but shino is reaching out his hand in the middle, smile as bright and blinding as ever. there's a metaphorical line between tekkadan and shino that crosses the barrier of family and friendship. shino is shining just a little brighter than the others, like he's the center of yamagi's world, a shooting star that he's always trying to reach up and grasp.
i need you! i'll make sure to protect you, so don't let go of my hand! those words are burned into yamagi's memories. he closes his eyes for a brief moment. yamagi's wordless answer to kotori's silent question: different. ]