[open] Now I'm out here counting airplanes

[mutedbackbeat]

Characters: Derrick and others
Location: school grounds, probably nearer to the dorms
Time: Wed., midday
Content: Amongst some confusing things that had happened to him recently, Derrick's just realized how far behind he is in schoolwork. ... Staring up at the sky is just the way to solve that obviously.
Format: prose, willing switch it up

Comments

[inspirethefire]

On some small level, Hajime was a bit disappointed that there wasn't more work to do, these days; the opportunity to push away distractions and focus in on the assignments was a relaxing pastime, and if he needed to relax at any time, it was these last couple weeks.

But, with all the homework expended, the young Ouendan needed another method to use his time. Now that winter was on its way out, perhaps people would be more open to the idea of sports teams. He had set out to the grounds in order to explore the spaces available for practice, when he caught sight of a young man standing alone.

Through Derrick's stay in the infirmary, Hajime had visited multiple times, but never when the boy was awake. In the time since, things had gotten a bit too muddled to contact him personally, but the opportunity had arisen... Hajime had already managed to thank many of the people involved, so it shouldn't be so hard this time around, yes...?

Tightening his grip on his clipboard, he approached the other boy. "You... you're Derrick Williams, yes?" Of course he was. Why was he asking that? Well, there it was.

[mutedbackbeat]

There was something familiar about this student's appearance and voice, a nagging feeling in the back on his mind telling him that they had crossed paths before or maybe that Derrick had seen a video of the student. The later really sounded likely to Derrick with a strange additional feeling that maybe Derrick should stay out of the way to not upset the other...

The student might have also been at the hotel, so Derrick wondered if that was the case then. He hadn't been focused on meeting new people at all then. Derrick didn't like how he could't recall who this person was exactly.

"... Yeah?" It was the Derrick noticed the clipboard in the other student's hands. From recent experiences, Derrick knew that if he was going to get into trouble about his homework, students were going to be the ones doing confronting the issue not the staff. "... Is this about attendance?"

[inspirethefire]

"Pardon?" Hajime blinked, then followed the glance down at his clipboard. "Ah. No, this is, unrelated to...Sports Officer, you know..."

He cleared his throat. Distractions, not needed right now, right. He ducked into a sharp, quick bow. "Tanaka Hajime!" He tightened his mouth and made sure not to look away. "You... were instrumental in the effort to return Blossom and myself to the present. I wanted to show you my gratitude."

[mutedbackbeat]

That was... good. Derrick wouldn't have know what to think of the school if students were actually being put in charge of attendance.

"Tanaka... Hajime?" The name was what he needed to jolt Derrick's memory. Even if he hadn't known the melody or face well, Derrick knew the name. Hajime! Sanji's friend, the guy who was with Blossom in the past. Hajime's next statement confirmed this. They finally met, besides Derrick seeing a video post of his. ... That was why he was so familiar looking. They shared classes to, he thought.

"Uh... it's..." Derrick never did figure out exactly how he should take this. And the bow was new. At the very least, he now knew Hajime wasn't mad at him for hurting his pride or tough guy act by rescuing him. (With how some people had been acting, Derrick wasn't entirely sure anymore.) "You're... welcome. Glad you got back safely." Honestly, the thanks surprised him.

[inspirethefire]

There appeared to be a moment of surprise on Derrick's part, but that was as good a reaction as Hajime could hope for. "Yes... I wanted to be able to thank you in person for what you did for me. I know you worked yourself... hard, for our sakes."

He knew it had mostly been Derrick's relation to Blossom that had motivated the rescue, but that didn't change the fact that he was grateful for it. On some level, he partially expected the other boy to be resentful for having to expend the extra effort on a stranger. "After all that... I'm in your debt. I'd be honored to assist you with whatever you need at a future time."

[mutedbackbeat]

"It was Sanji who figured out the other teenager was you. He was really worried though he tried not to show it." Derrick heard it though; it was hard not to, and he knew he must have sounded the same. "Sanji knew Jack had a time machine too after Ms. Nico found a point when the two of you were together. Then it was a group effort to rescue the both of you. Got the story already, right?" Someone must have told him by now. If not, Derrick could.

Derrick did his best to ignore the being honored part; he didn't feel like anyone should feel that way toward him. He was just trying to get two students home to where they belonged. Maybe his initial motivation was Blossom, but Derrick wouldn't have left another student behind. And even if Blossom hadn't been involved, Derrick liked to think he would still work as hard as he could to help him. "Hopefully, something like this won't happen again..." He shook his head lightly then added. "But probably won't be the case. Would be glad to have another person I know I can turn to." There might have been a hint of 'since I can't believe in the staff' added to that.

[inspirethefire]

At the mention of Sanji, Hajime held back a smirk. "He works like that, yes." He drew his back straight again. "I'm aware of those who helped in the effort; I've been making sure to give my thanks to all who are involved. The strongest efforts are made as a team. And, if my story is right, I believe it was you who made certain to pull many of the people together in the process."

At the worry of something else happening, Hajime deflated a moment. "Our school certainly has a track record for attracting unwanted attention. It's the unfortunate order of things." What went unspoken was more or less put on display in the flicker of willpower. "Having a team you can trust is invaluable even under normal circumstances, and doubly so here." Hajime couldn't say he trusted many other people around here all that well, these days. "Hopefully we can work well together."

He paused, glancing off. "Particularly since I believe we've been drafted into Mr. Sanji's cooking lessons."

[mutedbackbeat]

[[ooc: Is this thread on Wed. when Derrick comes back or Fri. after Sanji's party? It kinda changes how Derrick will react. ie. uneasy vs. very uneasy oh no... Sanji please don't say anything I am just going to be quiet and over here and not cause trouble because I am going to deny everything and not get in the way of Hajime =D;;]]

"Uh..." Had it really been Derrick that brought everyone together? Derrick thought Sanji had more to do about that with bringing him to Ms. Nico and knowing Jack. Derrick just brought the historical records to the attention to the staff, which Sanji jumped at, and asked Foxx to help once Jack agreed to help. "Think that might be too much credit..."

Derrick merely nodded when Hajime talked about the school, knowing he had similar thoughts based on his melody. But then...

"You're taking lessons too? ... Guess that's what Sanji meant about catching the bug." Was... Hajime implying that they were being taught together... at the same time? Derrick had been hoping he'd get a chance to learn some basics one-on-one, without worrying about disturbing another person. He also didn't meet Hajime's eyes and attempted to quell the nervous feeling bubbling up inside of him.

[inspirethefire]

Modesty was apparently a strong suit of this boy; he seemed heavily adverse to taking any of the credit for the whole endeavor. It was hard to place, exactly, why, though. Looking at the boy's flame, Hajime couldn't quite tell if the flame was on the verge of sputtering out, or snapping up to a powerful flame.

Allowing himself a small shrug at Derrick's comment, Hajime adjusted his armband. "That man certainly has a peculiar way of handling his interactions with people. If nothing else, I trust he and Miss Tiana will make good teachers." That was, if Sanji didn't distract himself too much with the company of his assistant. Which was a legitimate 'if.'

[mutedbackbeat]

The music empath had the distinct feeling that there was some kind of reaction loop going on based on Hajime's melody. Tiny changes that seemed to correspond to something, but what? Maybe Derrick was just easy to read; one might guess something from the way Derrick was nervous to look at Hajime.

"..." Derrick felt something large and heavy drop to the bottom his stomach. They would be learning together. That wouldn't have been bad if it weren't for Sanji. What would Sanji say about Blossom with Hajime around? ... Derrick really didn't want to cause any trouble, more than he thought he already had for having the feelings in the first place. He didn't want to disturb things between Blossom and Hajime. "Didn't get a chance to talk to Miss Tiana a lot." He had been too busy trying to get his face to stop being so red. "So take your word for it."

Maybe with her around things wouldn't get out of hand and difficult, Derrick hoped.

[inspirethefire]

Whatever indication that there was an empath loop going on was entirely lost on Hajime, the subtleties of this sort of thing much more difficult to decipher in a visual format. What was not too hard to decipher, though, was the rapid dimming away for Derrick's flame.

Hajime blinked at the boy a few moments, startled that this little thing seemed to dishearten the boy so. His eyebrows knitted together as he adjusted his glasses. "I apologize if you were expecting to take the lessons by your lonesome. I certainly had no intention of dampening your experience." Not that he'd had a whole lot of say in the matter in the first place. "Perhaps it would be better suited if we asked them to teach us separately?"

[[Sorry about the lateness ><]]

[mutedbackbeat]

"... It's... complicated." Derrick didn't exactly know what to say about this. None of this was Hajime's fault, but that change in Hajime's melody suggested that Hajime thought it could be. It was... just a lot of worry about what Sanji would say. Otherwise Derrick could act like normal, like there was nothing. Because there wasn't anything. "It... doesn't have to do with you." Not directly anyways.

But Derrick wasn't sure if asking Sanji to stay quiet would make things better or worse. That was a side of Sanji he didn't know about at all. "..." And then Derrick realized he couldn't exactly ask Hajime if Sanji would be the type to keep a secret either.

"... Don't worry about it," Derrick finally settled on saying.

[[ <3 ]]

[inspirethefire]

"Such things often are complicated." Hajime couldn't really specify what 'such things' were. Life, possibly. It seemed to be the accurate description. Either way, it seemed this boy was a rather troubled person, in one form or another. He rapped his thumb against his clipboard, mulling it over. He doubted this was the sort of person who would ask for help--like many others around here--but that wouldn't change that he seemed to need it, or at least would in the future.

He huffed a small sigh, bowing his head. "Very well. I'll try not to. Though burdens borne with support are easier to handle. As I was saying before. If there's any way I can assist you at some point in the future, it would be my pleasure."

And he then decided to leave it at that; discussing the topic further would be likely distressing for the other. He consulted his clipboard, trying to think of some manner to change the topic with. "As another note, are you perchance interested in joining any sports teams later in the semester?"

[mutedbackbeat]

Derrick was fairly sure that "Help me stop having a crush on my best friend, so things didn't get complicated between me, her, and you" was not what Hajime had in mind. Nor anything involving time travel kidnappings (though Hajime would've been one of two people that maybe might understand a little... or not) or feeling something akin to betrayal from staff inaction. And Derrick had been offered help on homework from more than one person, so...

He gave another nod and said, "Yeah. Trying to... make more sense of things so that... things aren't as..." What was he trying to say? "... overwhelming." One thing at a time, and Derrick had somehow settled on homework to be the easiest task to start with.

After that, he considered Hajime's question. "Uh... skateboard?" That wasn't something schools normally had as a sports team however, and Derrick couldn't say he had ever thought of joining a team or a club. But there had been a lot of things he thought he wouldn't do or have yet he did. Still, someone would probably have to convince him in some fashion. "... Play basketball... and volleyball with Blossom sometimes."

/beats head against desk

[inspirethefire]

Derrick might have been surprised in regard to what Hajime had in mind. He had his own suspicions on the matter, but didn't plan on letting them surface right now. It would only make things more... complicated. As it was, though, the redhead's worries could only be speculated upon. "I certainly can understand the feeling. Stress can be a dangerous thing, at our age."

'Skateboarding' certainly wasn't one of the things he'd been hoping to hear, but regardless he took it as an indication that perhaps he should ask if they could have a small part of the grounds converted to a skate park. Hajime scribbled down some notes.

"Of course." The mention of Blossom made him very careful not to give anything away. This was all professional. "I'm merely hoping to gauge the levels of interest for various teams; there's no pressure to join if you don't desire. It's still a bit early in the year, regardless."

/puts pillow on desk

[mutedbackbeat]

Some days Derrick wondered what life would be like if he wasn't a music empath. Would it not be as confusing or more confusing? Today was one of those days. And he took that guarded tune as being J was wrong, and Derrick had been right. Derrick shifted his weight to the other foot. He needed to just figure things out already and move on before things collided... like he and his brother had.

"Have never thought about it." If anyone didn't press him any, Derrick probably would never join a club or sport. "Uh... when is the right season?" Probably sometime after winter when things weren't so wet and cold, right? "Who would we be playing against? The nearby school?"