[LOG] Soul Soothing
Characters: Tezuka, Oishi
Location: Classrooms/campus
Time: Friday, October 12- afternoon
Rating: G
Summary: After all of Tezuka’s initial miseries during his first few days on campus, he and Oishi take a breather with a hauntingly-normal and disturbingly-mundane walk.
After having spent the last few days trudging his way through his courses despite the numerous hushed rumors and questions, Oishi didn't have the clearest of heads during his classes. It was all he could do to pay attention to Ryuuzaki's never-ending lectures about the importance of ethics and morality (with a strong dose of 'kids today!' thrown in for variety), and sitting through all of them in seiza meant his legs were still tingling well into his afternoon. Both Fuji and Eiji had yet to crack and admit their guilt-- Oishi was pretty well aware of this when he’d spot either of them heading out for classes or practice rather than the drudgery of staff laundry. Given everything that had happened, it was difficult to concentrate on anything else. A few times he found himself doodling stick figures of the two of them behind bars into the margins of his notes when he wasn’t paying attention. Still, he didn’t erase them.
Humming faintly to himself, he drew a little spiderweb along the jail bars-- just to really drum home how long he wanted the two of them to spend in there, only looking up when he heard the instructor call his name. “Oishi-kun, would you mind sharing the lecture coursework notes with our newest student?”
“A-ah, right. I will, sensei.” Oishi actually appeared a little startled out of his daydream, stammering and nodding as he switched seats to accommodate, pulling the notes for the first couple weeks out of his folder and handing them over. As long as the teacher busied himself grading their last assignment at his desk, Oishi took the opportunity to introduce himself. “It’s nice to meet you,” he recovered a smile as he passed the papers over, “I’m Oishi Shuichiro. I hear you just transferred?”
Tezuka looked over at the student who was supposed to help him and wonder if he’d actually be able to assist him. Oishi had seemed more intent on doodling and daydreaming than note-taking. But Tezuka supposed any help would be welcome in trying to catch up on his new classes. “I’m Tezuka Kunimitsu,” Tezuka said carefully taking the papers from Oishi. “I arrived on Saturday. It’s quite different than my previous school.” And much worse for his sanity. At least if the days kept being as interesting as his first couple.
Oishi chuckled self-depreciatively, "To say the least." Shuffling some more papers on his desk and tucking them into his bag, he tipped his head, trying to find some optimism to offer, which in him was lacking as of late. "The classes are smaller, and well, the instructors are more understanding." He finally settled on that. "So, have you gotten your room assignment yet?"
“I’ll return these tomorrow,” Tezuka said carefully tucking Oishi’s and his own notes into his bag. “And I’m sharing with Kisarazu Atsushi. Do you know him?” If what Oishi said about smaller classes, he suspected that everyone knew each other or were at least aware of everyone else.
"Ah, don't worry about it, take your time." Pausing momentarily, Oishi considered the other half-occupied rooms and decided comparatively, this new student was lucky. At least he wouldn't be picking bird feathers off of his every article of clothing. Though there were some aspects of the student body that most… people weren't nearly prepared enough for. "I do. It's a very tightly-knit… school," Oishi trailed thoughtfully, deciding to change the subject lest he scare him off or something, "Have you been around campus yet? I know you've probably been to the dorms and the administrations office, but I could show you around the rest if you have time." It wasn't as if he had anything preferable to do, returning to a room full of dirty laundry.
“I’m beginning to notice that news travels quickly here,” Tezuka said. Though he felt that was partially Fuji’s fault. “And no, I’m afraid I haven’t had much chance to explore yet. I’d appreciate the tour.” He gave Oishi the barest hint of a smile. Perhaps if he was walking with Oishi he wouldn’t end up nearly dying again or poisoned again.
There was a tangible wariness in the way Tezuka had answered him-- something that reminded Oishi a little of how he'd looked his first day, wide-eyed and completely lost (and very much intimidated by the other students with forked tongues or claws), and something that made him want to assure the rest of his day went as smoothly as possible. As their instructor dismissed them with the bell, Oishi packed away the rest of his things and asked Tezuka to follow him out. "Fortunately or unfortunately," Oishi agreed with a chuckle, "I'll take you around." He almost paused to insist whatever Tezuka may have heard about him was untrue, but that would be a suspect way to begin a conversation. "So, what brings you to our campus? Apart from the obvious."
“If the obvious is needing to learn to control my powers, then that would be the reason,” Tezuka said. After making sure he had everything, he followed Oishi out of the classroom. He hoped Oishi wouldn’t press for details on the actual event that made him decide he could no longer keep ignoring his powers. Though there was a chance he already knew about it, in which case Tezuka hoped that he didn’t bring it up. He hadn’t meant to become some sort of superhero sensation.
Considering a lot of their shared backgrounds, Oishi didn't want to prod. "A-ah, well… I just mean it's not exactly the sort of school to run advertisements on television," He rubbed at the back of his own head anxiously, "I had to spend a good deal of time… looking into it. Plus it's sort of out of the way here, in Hokkaido." In any case, Oishi hadn't kept up with the more sensationalistic aspects of their local news to catch Tezuka or his heroic feats. "As for that, I think we're all here for it."
Tezuka blushed ever so lightly at the mention of advertisements on television. True, the school hadn’t advertised itself there, but Tezuka more or less did with the prime time news coverage. “They had reason to contact me,” Tezuka said instead, downplaying the incident. “Was it difficult for you to decide to come here?” Oishi sounded as if finding and then relocating to the school had been troublesome and he wondered if Oishi had also struggled with the decision to come here despite knowing that power training was necessary.
The Academy had contacted him? That was the first time Oishi had heard of the school taking more drastic measures like that-- there must have been something uniquely powerful about Tezuka's skill set. Oishi cast the thoughtful crease in his brow aside and answered him, beginning with a hum, "A little." If Tezuka was feeling the same, as a new student, Oishi felt it in his duty to assure him he wasn't alone, "I was stubborn and didn't want to accept that I was different, or put my family through the trouble," he added quietly. "But, it would have been irresponsible of me not to learn how to use it. Was… it the same for you?" He led Tezuka down the halls and through the quickest route out of the building as they spoke.
“That’s what made me come,” Tezuka said feeling that Oishi understood some of the difficulties he was going through. “I wanted to ignore my powers but now it would be irresponsible to keep doing so.” Especially since pretending they didn’t exist was no longer an option. Instead, he would master them and then return to his studies.
Oishi gave his fellow student an understanding smile, "I think it was like that for most of us. All the students I know have improved their control with their instructors during their time here, so in that regard I think it'll be a positive experience." There was yet a mention of the outlandish pranks, plumbing explosions, and rampant canoodling, all of which went on at this campus with alarming frequency-- he didn't want to frighten him off too soon. That sort of thing should be eased into. He paused to consider their surroundings, then started off through the gardens, "Since you'll be having classes, I'll show you to the library and our training classrooms. How was your first day?"
Tezuka did not want to go into the details of his horrible first day on campus, so instead took the question to mean how his first day of classes went. “It was okay. I have a lot to catch up on for some classes. I won’t start my power training until tomorrow. But I hope the instructors are as skilled as you say.” That would make up for some of the stress leaving Tokyo university had caused him.
"Ah, right. Let me know if you need any more of my notes." Oishi strolled through the familiar campus nearly on instinct now-- navigating through the garden grounds where students often practiced outside of class. Compared to most campuses, the turrets on the buildings and elaborate architecture were… unusual enough, even without the mutants. "And they are. It seems like there's an instructor for every specialty here, though a lot of us overlap, surprisingly. Mine, for instance, I've learned to control with a lot of concentration exercises." Speaking of, they approached the library and its neighboring training halls, Oishi stopping to give a short spiel on each.
Tezuka looked around the grounds with interest and listened to politely as Oishi explained what each place was for and any other interesting facts about them. “I suppose I’d be put in with the telekinetics,” Tezuka said wondering if any other powers would line up closely enough with his for overlapped classes. He had done some research into mutant powers before coming but even a couple days at the school had told him that his research had only covered a small amount of the mutant possibilities.
Oishi was always relieved when the new people he met on campus had relatively 'normal' mutations, of which telekinesis was one, and he wouldn't have to expect they'd suddenly grow a second head or hairy arms. "I know we have a few on campus. It should be beneficial." A few more steps into their tour, Oishi offered up information about himself, if only to put Tezuka's mind at ease, "It's a little more difficult for me, I can stop time for short periods. There aren't many instructors who have experience with that," he chuckled.
Tezuka looked at Oishi in a new light, assessing him. Stopping time sounded like a powerful ability to control and one that could be easily misused. But so far, Oishi had given him no reason to believe he would do so with him just for a laugh. “That sounds like an interesting power,” Tezuka said. “But certainly not a common one, it must be frustrating at times to not have as many peers to turn to.”
"Sometimes it can be, or difficult to explain really," That was the hardest part. How do you explain to someone who'd never been in that space what 'paused' time looks like? What it looks like to see water completely motionless and yet still be able to wade in it, or rain droplets that were just stuck there in mid-air? Not to mention the several times he'd had to explain to his classmates that he couldn't rewind time and get them a better grade on their tests, or anything like that. "For the most part, everyone is very understanding. I'm sure you'll find many people who empathize with your experiences as well."
Tezuka thought stopping time for short periods of time was a pretty self-explanatory power but perhaps there were more intricacies to it that he wasn’t able to understand and so proved Oishi’s point. Tezuka was finding that suddenly being around so many mutant powers certainly required a different way of thinking. “That would be nice. I find my lack of control rather embarrassing right now,” Tezuka admitted quietly. And it wasn’t just moving the bus and other cars in traffic that had caused that feeling. But after when he had tried to work with his power at home, he hadn’t been able to move a single thing intentionally. The less said about the objects he moved by accident the better in his books.
Oishi could certainly relate to that. He motioned for Tezuka to follow him around the back of their training classrooms and toward their sports facilities-- in case he had any interest in any of that. Most of the students primarily used them for light practices, or to keep themselves in shape. He explained as much as they arrived. "If your power came on suddenly, it's understandable. When I first started using mine, I had a difficult time turning it off again." He didn't think to ask about the circumstances, given Oishi wasn't particularly anxious to share his own. "Ah," He changed the subject as they came upon the facilities, "We have tennis and basketball courts, and a pool. The lake behind campus is also a nice place to take a break once in a while."
“I made the mistake of neglecting my powers. Apparently it’s not the recommended course of action.” Tezuka admitted as they walked around the very impressive sports facilities. “Do they have a dojo or at least mats to practice judo with?” Tezuka asked wondering if there were other students interested in judo. It would be nice to have some practice partners to help motivate him to practice more.
"Hmm," Oishi considered the question, hooking his thumbs into his pockets, "I don't think we have an official dojo," then again, he didn't keep up with martial arts himself, "But there are rooms with mats large enough for sparring, I know a lot of students use them for general practice. Their use is left fairly open." He smiled brightly, finishing their tour off at the shore of the lake behind campus, "So you do judo? I'm not entirely sure if anyone else here has experience with that, but there are a few students who would probably be up to the challenge of learning."
Tezuka didn’t want to brag about being a national level competitor in high school and continuing judo in university so he just gave a nod. “Perhaps I can start a club,” Tezuka said testing out the idea to Oishi. He didn’t know how anything worked in the school yet including if they had clubs but it could be worth looking into, even if it was something informal. Pausing at the lake, Tezuka looked out across it and at the mountains not too far in the distance and took a nice big cleansing breath, head tilted slightly up as he felt himself relax a little. “Shall we walk some more?” He asked gesturing to a path that probably led around the lake.
"That's an idea," Oishi nodded, feeling more positive that Tezuka was warming up to the idea of his stay at the Academy, especially since he'd detected some wariness earlier. Not that Oishi could blame him. He just hoped the other man's first few days had been kind enough to him that he didn't feel the immediate need to drop or transfer. … They had a surprising amount of students do that every semester, it seemed like. "We do have several sports clubs, Ryuuzaki-sensei would be the one to talk to about that." Along with Tezuka, Oishi took a minute or so to digest the view. Sometimes it was easy to lose sight of what a picturesque campus it was, funneled into buildings all day. He motioned with his arm for Tezuka to go ahead, following at his side, "Whatever you'd like to see. It's a very nice campus. And not too big." He wound along the dirt path he'd trekked several times before, having memorized it by now. "What were you studying… before?"
“Perhaps once I’ve settled into the routine I’ll ask her,” Tezuka said continuing along the path at a leisurely pace. Oishi was right, it was quite relaxing down this way. “I was studying law.” He technically still was but it wasn’t quite the same here and who knew how long it would take him to master his powers enough to return to his real school. “What are you studying?” He asked wondering what course options students here went into other than photography and perhaps pornography if his roommate and his friend was anything to go by.
Law, Oishi was impressed, and the expression he made likely spoke to that. "For now," He started quietly, trying to inject a little more optimism into his voice, "I'm just working on maintaining my training here, along with our core classes." It was difficult to consider careers when he was still putting so much thought into his future, and his family, and how all of this being-a-'gifted'-mutant sidetracking fit in with that. If he had to, he'd prefer to use his abilities to help people, though that would mean coming out with them first. Oishi wasn't certain he was ready for that yet. Putting aside the thoughts that had temporarily taken him over, he shrugged nonchalantly. "When I was younger I considered being a doctor, so I might return to that eventually. Law is," he chuckled, "an intimidating but admirable choice." Not that being a doctor wasn't, but a different sort of intimidating.
“Law is just a lot of reading,” Tezuka said not overly comfortable with how Oishi was now looking at him. “Being a doctor is a much nobler profession. I think your powers would be advantageous for it, too.” He didn’t know if Oishi had the intelligence or determination to be a doctor as they’d only just met, but he already thought he had the temperament and that being able to pause time could be very useful in many situations at a hospital.
Oishi laughed off how simple Tezuka had made that sound, "An intimidating amount of reading," he reiterated. "Mn, I hope I can use it for some good no matter what profession I end up going into." Truth be told he wasn't entirely decided on being a doctor yet, and there wasn't much time to think about it since being sidetracked by his mutation. "The last thing I would want to do is call attention to myself because of my abilities," he chuckled, "I don't think I could handle the spotlight." As being a doctor with the power to stop time would do to a person.
“It’s not that bad,” Tezuka demurred about the reading. He considered Oishi’s feelings about being in the spotlight and found he agreed but then, he’d tolerate all of that to be able to help people. He may have hated all of the news coverage after the bus incident but he would always choose to use his powers to save that boy’s life. “I think sometimes the fame is worth it to save lives. But I’m also sure there are ways to more quietly save lives with your powers.” He wasn’t sure how Oishi would go about it if he were a doctor but he was sure there had to be plenty of mutants out in the world using their powers for their jobs or for others and they certainly weren’t all on the 6 o’clock news.
"I hope so," Answered Oishi cheerily, though he'd yet to come up with a suitable solution himself yet. He supposed seeing only other mutants as patients might make them more apt to keep things quiet and with limited sensationalism, but that was never a guarantee. "There are a lot of times I think it might be easier without them," he admitted quietly, the freshly-shed leaves crumbling under his feet as they wound along the shoreline, "but, you're right. It is worth it." Oishi still had his doubts however, and he would never be someone to go to for support in 'mutant pride,' but for the most part he'd settled into the role that had obviously been carved out for him. "Is it reassuring though, being around similar people now?"
“That thought landed me here,” Tezuka admitted and wondered if he had accepted his powers from the start if he would now be able to access them and control them. He really didn’t enjoy staring at unmoving blocks all day before accidentally ripping off doors. “As for reassuring... I think it’s more overwhelming. It’s a lot to take in.” He still caught himself staring at certain mutations or found he was unsure how to ask people about their powers without seeming rude or prying. But he would learn and he would settle into life here, he was sure of it. He just had to survive all the pitfalls.
"That I understand entirely," Oishi remarked quickly, his eyes finding the ground under the toes of his shoes, and shaking his head, "when I first got here, I think I spent a week holed up in my dorm not talking much to any of my classmates." He laughed a bit at his own expense, the tips of his ears red, "Like if I just hoped enough I wouldn't have to be here. Obviously that didn't turn out." Nowadays it wasn't something he thought much about, though bringing it up again felt oddly raw. And there weren't many people he talked to about it, he just wanted to be sure Tezuka understood all of his apprehensions were natural. He shrugged, "The people here make it worth it, I think. You'd be hard-pressed to find a more understanding group."
“I suspect many people feel like that when they first arrive,” Tezuka said resting a friendly hand on Oishi’s shoulder for a moment before taking it back. “And I do appreciate that everyone has their own trials to overcome and so are more understanding towards each other’s.” Tezuka rather thought he’d need plenty of understanding while he worked on his powers. They ranged from not doing anything to causing complete chaos without warning. It was rather troublesome. “It’s also nice to not be looked at as a freak,” He added looking out into the woods. Before he’d left ToDai, people on campus would always point and stare at him or worse, see him and then pretend they didn’t so to avoid having to converse with him. Also, people did not speak nearly as quietly as they thought they did when he was around. He had, in some ways, hoped to weather the storm at ToDai and continue on, but it was obvious that that would not be an option.
Oishi put aside whatever curiosities he might have had about Tezuka's experiences before the Academy out of regard for his privacy, and because they likely weren't very different from many other students'. Whether a sudden manifestation of powers or something that had been evident since birth, they'd all experienced that feeling on some level. "Yes, that." He agreed with a nod, followed by a thoughtful pause. As far as looks went, he and Tezuka didn't have any mutations that might suggest they were 'different,' no tails or stripes or additional limbs, they were lucky on that front. Finally, he found it difficult not to just ask, "Your classmates at home found out…?"
Tezuka looked over at Oishi a little startled by the question and that he’d apparently found the one person on campus who honestly had not heard of what he had done. He had thought Oishi was just being polite earlier. “Most of Japan found out,” Tezuka said in a straightforward manner. “I made the news when I stopped a bus from hitting a young boy.”
"I-- really?" Oishi replied, sounding just as startled himself. He liked to think he'd kept up with major news events around the area, or at the very least around the country, but he did have a tendency to get tunnel-visioned when it came to studying. It was more than possible he'd just missed something like that entirely. A crease settled between his brows, "I-I guess I hadn't heard about it. How did you pull off something like that?" Maybe, In what bizarre, mutant way did you save him in order to make national news? was the clearer question. He could feel himself turning a little red, "Sorry, I didn't recognize you…"
“I’m relieved you didn’t. And apparently Fuji has saved the newspaper articles if you want to see them,” Tezuka said, his own cheeks staining red as the conversation remained on his incident. “I made the bus and several other cars hover in air before setting them down.... and I may have torn the roof off of the bus.” He looked away feeling distinctly embarrassed and not comfortable with this feeling. He suspected it wouldn’t have made such waves around Japan if it hadn’t happened in an area of Tokyo where hundreds of people were walking by with phones near enough at hand to capture all of the interesting moments.
It was hard-- impossible really-- to keep the look of wide-eyed astonishment off of Oishi's face with each new detail. Picturing the ordeal was impressive enough, the inevitable photos and reports on the incident had to be something else entirely. After a few seconds spent recovering from his shock, and frankly in a quiet awe of how powerful his new acquaintance must have really been, he opened his mouth to say something and ended up gaping a few times like a fish out of water. "I see…" Lifting entire cars off the ground was more than most of the Academy could ever hope to achieve even with training. "Fuji has it?" Somehow that cemented in Oishi's mind his need not to see the article, "W-well, in any case he was saved. That's what matters. So, you were speaking from experience earlier, about fame being worth it?"
Tezuka was a bit saddened to see Oishi’s expression at finding out just what he had done, but it was better for Oishi to find out near the beginning than think that he was lying to him. Or worse, for them to become true friends and then have this get between them because Oishi, despite all his kind words, decided he was too weird or dangerous to hang out with. Tezuka stayed silent watching Oishi process everything and gave a small hesitant smile when it seemed he had worked things out, at least for now. “I suspect you could still find videos on youtube,” Tezuka said and nodded to Oishi’s question. “Life has certainly not gone as expected since the incident, but having to relocate schools seems a small price to pay for a boy’s life.”
"Right," Oishi remarked in response, debating whether or not he'd go back to his dorm room and pull the video up on the laptop out of a sense of morbid curiosity. Though, with the way all the exposure seemed to trouble Tezuka, he was having a hard time convincing himself he could do it without a significant amount of guilt. "It's something I wouldn't exactly choose for myself, but… I agree." If it were Oishi's choice he'd probably lead the most typical, one-track life an upstanding Japanese citizen could lead, but that just wasn't in the cards. "And I think it's an admirable stance to take," he added, smiling now that he'd remembered how to breathe.
"Ah, we've sort of detoured from our tour, hm?" Oishi laughed a little at himself and adjusted the bag on his shoulder, trying to change the subject before the air was clouded too seriously to recover, "Is there anything else you're interested in seeing, Tezuka?"
Tezuka was tempted to call out Oishi on his reaction, reminding him that a man who could freeze time should not be surprised by a few floating cars, but that seemed rude and he decided to go along with Oishi’s desire to return to other topics. “Just a little. But I’m fine with just wandering the grounds. It’s a little more peaceful than the main buildings,” Tezuka said. He was thankful that at least his roommate was neat and quiet when not engaged in illicit acts. “There are certainly many interesting people here.”
"That's true," Oishi answered-- to both of Tezuka's statements really, and wound his way around the remaining perimeter of the lake, figuring they may as well round up the trip around and end up at the junior dorms, and then somewhere in the middle again. "It always tends to be quieter down here. There are some hiking trails and places to picnic, and sometimes we hold events out here. You should come out and see it at night sometime too,” he added, leading the other teen out around a long bend in the shoreline.
“I’ll have to look into the hiking trails later,” Tezuka said. As they walked around the lake, it was clear that Oishi was right and it was much quieter out here as they only passed a random student occasionally. Tezuka thought that he and Oishi should do this again after class one day if either of them or perhaps both was in need of some quiet company and a relaxing atmosphere.
Location: Classrooms/campus
Time: Friday, October 12- afternoon
Rating: G
Summary: After all of Tezuka’s initial miseries during his first few days on campus, he and Oishi take a breather with a hauntingly-normal and disturbingly-mundane walk.
After having spent the last few days trudging his way through his courses despite the numerous hushed rumors and questions, Oishi didn't have the clearest of heads during his classes. It was all he could do to pay attention to Ryuuzaki's never-ending lectures about the importance of ethics and morality (with a strong dose of 'kids today!' thrown in for variety), and sitting through all of them in seiza meant his legs were still tingling well into his afternoon. Both Fuji and Eiji had yet to crack and admit their guilt-- Oishi was pretty well aware of this when he’d spot either of them heading out for classes or practice rather than the drudgery of staff laundry. Given everything that had happened, it was difficult to concentrate on anything else. A few times he found himself doodling stick figures of the two of them behind bars into the margins of his notes when he wasn’t paying attention. Still, he didn’t erase them.
Humming faintly to himself, he drew a little spiderweb along the jail bars-- just to really drum home how long he wanted the two of them to spend in there, only looking up when he heard the instructor call his name. “Oishi-kun, would you mind sharing the lecture coursework notes with our newest student?”
“A-ah, right. I will, sensei.” Oishi actually appeared a little startled out of his daydream, stammering and nodding as he switched seats to accommodate, pulling the notes for the first couple weeks out of his folder and handing them over. As long as the teacher busied himself grading their last assignment at his desk, Oishi took the opportunity to introduce himself. “It’s nice to meet you,” he recovered a smile as he passed the papers over, “I’m Oishi Shuichiro. I hear you just transferred?”
Tezuka looked over at the student who was supposed to help him and wonder if he’d actually be able to assist him. Oishi had seemed more intent on doodling and daydreaming than note-taking. But Tezuka supposed any help would be welcome in trying to catch up on his new classes. “I’m Tezuka Kunimitsu,” Tezuka said carefully taking the papers from Oishi. “I arrived on Saturday. It’s quite different than my previous school.” And much worse for his sanity. At least if the days kept being as interesting as his first couple.
Oishi chuckled self-depreciatively, "To say the least." Shuffling some more papers on his desk and tucking them into his bag, he tipped his head, trying to find some optimism to offer, which in him was lacking as of late. "The classes are smaller, and well, the instructors are more understanding." He finally settled on that. "So, have you gotten your room assignment yet?"
“I’ll return these tomorrow,” Tezuka said carefully tucking Oishi’s and his own notes into his bag. “And I’m sharing with Kisarazu Atsushi. Do you know him?” If what Oishi said about smaller classes, he suspected that everyone knew each other or were at least aware of everyone else.
"Ah, don't worry about it, take your time." Pausing momentarily, Oishi considered the other half-occupied rooms and decided comparatively, this new student was lucky. At least he wouldn't be picking bird feathers off of his every article of clothing. Though there were some aspects of the student body that most… people weren't nearly prepared enough for. "I do. It's a very tightly-knit… school," Oishi trailed thoughtfully, deciding to change the subject lest he scare him off or something, "Have you been around campus yet? I know you've probably been to the dorms and the administrations office, but I could show you around the rest if you have time." It wasn't as if he had anything preferable to do, returning to a room full of dirty laundry.
“I’m beginning to notice that news travels quickly here,” Tezuka said. Though he felt that was partially Fuji’s fault. “And no, I’m afraid I haven’t had much chance to explore yet. I’d appreciate the tour.” He gave Oishi the barest hint of a smile. Perhaps if he was walking with Oishi he wouldn’t end up nearly dying again or poisoned again.
There was a tangible wariness in the way Tezuka had answered him-- something that reminded Oishi a little of how he'd looked his first day, wide-eyed and completely lost (and very much intimidated by the other students with forked tongues or claws), and something that made him want to assure the rest of his day went as smoothly as possible. As their instructor dismissed them with the bell, Oishi packed away the rest of his things and asked Tezuka to follow him out. "Fortunately or unfortunately," Oishi agreed with a chuckle, "I'll take you around." He almost paused to insist whatever Tezuka may have heard about him was untrue, but that would be a suspect way to begin a conversation. "So, what brings you to our campus? Apart from the obvious."
“If the obvious is needing to learn to control my powers, then that would be the reason,” Tezuka said. After making sure he had everything, he followed Oishi out of the classroom. He hoped Oishi wouldn’t press for details on the actual event that made him decide he could no longer keep ignoring his powers. Though there was a chance he already knew about it, in which case Tezuka hoped that he didn’t bring it up. He hadn’t meant to become some sort of superhero sensation.
Considering a lot of their shared backgrounds, Oishi didn't want to prod. "A-ah, well… I just mean it's not exactly the sort of school to run advertisements on television," He rubbed at the back of his own head anxiously, "I had to spend a good deal of time… looking into it. Plus it's sort of out of the way here, in Hokkaido." In any case, Oishi hadn't kept up with the more sensationalistic aspects of their local news to catch Tezuka or his heroic feats. "As for that, I think we're all here for it."
Tezuka blushed ever so lightly at the mention of advertisements on television. True, the school hadn’t advertised itself there, but Tezuka more or less did with the prime time news coverage. “They had reason to contact me,” Tezuka said instead, downplaying the incident. “Was it difficult for you to decide to come here?” Oishi sounded as if finding and then relocating to the school had been troublesome and he wondered if Oishi had also struggled with the decision to come here despite knowing that power training was necessary.
The Academy had contacted him? That was the first time Oishi had heard of the school taking more drastic measures like that-- there must have been something uniquely powerful about Tezuka's skill set. Oishi cast the thoughtful crease in his brow aside and answered him, beginning with a hum, "A little." If Tezuka was feeling the same, as a new student, Oishi felt it in his duty to assure him he wasn't alone, "I was stubborn and didn't want to accept that I was different, or put my family through the trouble," he added quietly. "But, it would have been irresponsible of me not to learn how to use it. Was… it the same for you?" He led Tezuka down the halls and through the quickest route out of the building as they spoke.
“That’s what made me come,” Tezuka said feeling that Oishi understood some of the difficulties he was going through. “I wanted to ignore my powers but now it would be irresponsible to keep doing so.” Especially since pretending they didn’t exist was no longer an option. Instead, he would master them and then return to his studies.
Oishi gave his fellow student an understanding smile, "I think it was like that for most of us. All the students I know have improved their control with their instructors during their time here, so in that regard I think it'll be a positive experience." There was yet a mention of the outlandish pranks, plumbing explosions, and rampant canoodling, all of which went on at this campus with alarming frequency-- he didn't want to frighten him off too soon. That sort of thing should be eased into. He paused to consider their surroundings, then started off through the gardens, "Since you'll be having classes, I'll show you to the library and our training classrooms. How was your first day?"
Tezuka did not want to go into the details of his horrible first day on campus, so instead took the question to mean how his first day of classes went. “It was okay. I have a lot to catch up on for some classes. I won’t start my power training until tomorrow. But I hope the instructors are as skilled as you say.” That would make up for some of the stress leaving Tokyo university had caused him.
"Ah, right. Let me know if you need any more of my notes." Oishi strolled through the familiar campus nearly on instinct now-- navigating through the garden grounds where students often practiced outside of class. Compared to most campuses, the turrets on the buildings and elaborate architecture were… unusual enough, even without the mutants. "And they are. It seems like there's an instructor for every specialty here, though a lot of us overlap, surprisingly. Mine, for instance, I've learned to control with a lot of concentration exercises." Speaking of, they approached the library and its neighboring training halls, Oishi stopping to give a short spiel on each.
Tezuka looked around the grounds with interest and listened to politely as Oishi explained what each place was for and any other interesting facts about them. “I suppose I’d be put in with the telekinetics,” Tezuka said wondering if any other powers would line up closely enough with his for overlapped classes. He had done some research into mutant powers before coming but even a couple days at the school had told him that his research had only covered a small amount of the mutant possibilities.
Oishi was always relieved when the new people he met on campus had relatively 'normal' mutations, of which telekinesis was one, and he wouldn't have to expect they'd suddenly grow a second head or hairy arms. "I know we have a few on campus. It should be beneficial." A few more steps into their tour, Oishi offered up information about himself, if only to put Tezuka's mind at ease, "It's a little more difficult for me, I can stop time for short periods. There aren't many instructors who have experience with that," he chuckled.
Tezuka looked at Oishi in a new light, assessing him. Stopping time sounded like a powerful ability to control and one that could be easily misused. But so far, Oishi had given him no reason to believe he would do so with him just for a laugh. “That sounds like an interesting power,” Tezuka said. “But certainly not a common one, it must be frustrating at times to not have as many peers to turn to.”
"Sometimes it can be, or difficult to explain really," That was the hardest part. How do you explain to someone who'd never been in that space what 'paused' time looks like? What it looks like to see water completely motionless and yet still be able to wade in it, or rain droplets that were just stuck there in mid-air? Not to mention the several times he'd had to explain to his classmates that he couldn't rewind time and get them a better grade on their tests, or anything like that. "For the most part, everyone is very understanding. I'm sure you'll find many people who empathize with your experiences as well."
Tezuka thought stopping time for short periods of time was a pretty self-explanatory power but perhaps there were more intricacies to it that he wasn’t able to understand and so proved Oishi’s point. Tezuka was finding that suddenly being around so many mutant powers certainly required a different way of thinking. “That would be nice. I find my lack of control rather embarrassing right now,” Tezuka admitted quietly. And it wasn’t just moving the bus and other cars in traffic that had caused that feeling. But after when he had tried to work with his power at home, he hadn’t been able to move a single thing intentionally. The less said about the objects he moved by accident the better in his books.
Oishi could certainly relate to that. He motioned for Tezuka to follow him around the back of their training classrooms and toward their sports facilities-- in case he had any interest in any of that. Most of the students primarily used them for light practices, or to keep themselves in shape. He explained as much as they arrived. "If your power came on suddenly, it's understandable. When I first started using mine, I had a difficult time turning it off again." He didn't think to ask about the circumstances, given Oishi wasn't particularly anxious to share his own. "Ah," He changed the subject as they came upon the facilities, "We have tennis and basketball courts, and a pool. The lake behind campus is also a nice place to take a break once in a while."
“I made the mistake of neglecting my powers. Apparently it’s not the recommended course of action.” Tezuka admitted as they walked around the very impressive sports facilities. “Do they have a dojo or at least mats to practice judo with?” Tezuka asked wondering if there were other students interested in judo. It would be nice to have some practice partners to help motivate him to practice more.
"Hmm," Oishi considered the question, hooking his thumbs into his pockets, "I don't think we have an official dojo," then again, he didn't keep up with martial arts himself, "But there are rooms with mats large enough for sparring, I know a lot of students use them for general practice. Their use is left fairly open." He smiled brightly, finishing their tour off at the shore of the lake behind campus, "So you do judo? I'm not entirely sure if anyone else here has experience with that, but there are a few students who would probably be up to the challenge of learning."
Tezuka didn’t want to brag about being a national level competitor in high school and continuing judo in university so he just gave a nod. “Perhaps I can start a club,” Tezuka said testing out the idea to Oishi. He didn’t know how anything worked in the school yet including if they had clubs but it could be worth looking into, even if it was something informal. Pausing at the lake, Tezuka looked out across it and at the mountains not too far in the distance and took a nice big cleansing breath, head tilted slightly up as he felt himself relax a little. “Shall we walk some more?” He asked gesturing to a path that probably led around the lake.
"That's an idea," Oishi nodded, feeling more positive that Tezuka was warming up to the idea of his stay at the Academy, especially since he'd detected some wariness earlier. Not that Oishi could blame him. He just hoped the other man's first few days had been kind enough to him that he didn't feel the immediate need to drop or transfer. … They had a surprising amount of students do that every semester, it seemed like. "We do have several sports clubs, Ryuuzaki-sensei would be the one to talk to about that." Along with Tezuka, Oishi took a minute or so to digest the view. Sometimes it was easy to lose sight of what a picturesque campus it was, funneled into buildings all day. He motioned with his arm for Tezuka to go ahead, following at his side, "Whatever you'd like to see. It's a very nice campus. And not too big." He wound along the dirt path he'd trekked several times before, having memorized it by now. "What were you studying… before?"
“Perhaps once I’ve settled into the routine I’ll ask her,” Tezuka said continuing along the path at a leisurely pace. Oishi was right, it was quite relaxing down this way. “I was studying law.” He technically still was but it wasn’t quite the same here and who knew how long it would take him to master his powers enough to return to his real school. “What are you studying?” He asked wondering what course options students here went into other than photography and perhaps pornography if his roommate and his friend was anything to go by.
Law, Oishi was impressed, and the expression he made likely spoke to that. "For now," He started quietly, trying to inject a little more optimism into his voice, "I'm just working on maintaining my training here, along with our core classes." It was difficult to consider careers when he was still putting so much thought into his future, and his family, and how all of this being-a-'gifted'-mutant sidetracking fit in with that. If he had to, he'd prefer to use his abilities to help people, though that would mean coming out with them first. Oishi wasn't certain he was ready for that yet. Putting aside the thoughts that had temporarily taken him over, he shrugged nonchalantly. "When I was younger I considered being a doctor, so I might return to that eventually. Law is," he chuckled, "an intimidating but admirable choice." Not that being a doctor wasn't, but a different sort of intimidating.
“Law is just a lot of reading,” Tezuka said not overly comfortable with how Oishi was now looking at him. “Being a doctor is a much nobler profession. I think your powers would be advantageous for it, too.” He didn’t know if Oishi had the intelligence or determination to be a doctor as they’d only just met, but he already thought he had the temperament and that being able to pause time could be very useful in many situations at a hospital.
Oishi laughed off how simple Tezuka had made that sound, "An intimidating amount of reading," he reiterated. "Mn, I hope I can use it for some good no matter what profession I end up going into." Truth be told he wasn't entirely decided on being a doctor yet, and there wasn't much time to think about it since being sidetracked by his mutation. "The last thing I would want to do is call attention to myself because of my abilities," he chuckled, "I don't think I could handle the spotlight." As being a doctor with the power to stop time would do to a person.
“It’s not that bad,” Tezuka demurred about the reading. He considered Oishi’s feelings about being in the spotlight and found he agreed but then, he’d tolerate all of that to be able to help people. He may have hated all of the news coverage after the bus incident but he would always choose to use his powers to save that boy’s life. “I think sometimes the fame is worth it to save lives. But I’m also sure there are ways to more quietly save lives with your powers.” He wasn’t sure how Oishi would go about it if he were a doctor but he was sure there had to be plenty of mutants out in the world using their powers for their jobs or for others and they certainly weren’t all on the 6 o’clock news.
"I hope so," Answered Oishi cheerily, though he'd yet to come up with a suitable solution himself yet. He supposed seeing only other mutants as patients might make them more apt to keep things quiet and with limited sensationalism, but that was never a guarantee. "There are a lot of times I think it might be easier without them," he admitted quietly, the freshly-shed leaves crumbling under his feet as they wound along the shoreline, "but, you're right. It is worth it." Oishi still had his doubts however, and he would never be someone to go to for support in 'mutant pride,' but for the most part he'd settled into the role that had obviously been carved out for him. "Is it reassuring though, being around similar people now?"
“That thought landed me here,” Tezuka admitted and wondered if he had accepted his powers from the start if he would now be able to access them and control them. He really didn’t enjoy staring at unmoving blocks all day before accidentally ripping off doors. “As for reassuring... I think it’s more overwhelming. It’s a lot to take in.” He still caught himself staring at certain mutations or found he was unsure how to ask people about their powers without seeming rude or prying. But he would learn and he would settle into life here, he was sure of it. He just had to survive all the pitfalls.
"That I understand entirely," Oishi remarked quickly, his eyes finding the ground under the toes of his shoes, and shaking his head, "when I first got here, I think I spent a week holed up in my dorm not talking much to any of my classmates." He laughed a bit at his own expense, the tips of his ears red, "Like if I just hoped enough I wouldn't have to be here. Obviously that didn't turn out." Nowadays it wasn't something he thought much about, though bringing it up again felt oddly raw. And there weren't many people he talked to about it, he just wanted to be sure Tezuka understood all of his apprehensions were natural. He shrugged, "The people here make it worth it, I think. You'd be hard-pressed to find a more understanding group."
“I suspect many people feel like that when they first arrive,” Tezuka said resting a friendly hand on Oishi’s shoulder for a moment before taking it back. “And I do appreciate that everyone has their own trials to overcome and so are more understanding towards each other’s.” Tezuka rather thought he’d need plenty of understanding while he worked on his powers. They ranged from not doing anything to causing complete chaos without warning. It was rather troublesome. “It’s also nice to not be looked at as a freak,” He added looking out into the woods. Before he’d left ToDai, people on campus would always point and stare at him or worse, see him and then pretend they didn’t so to avoid having to converse with him. Also, people did not speak nearly as quietly as they thought they did when he was around. He had, in some ways, hoped to weather the storm at ToDai and continue on, but it was obvious that that would not be an option.
Oishi put aside whatever curiosities he might have had about Tezuka's experiences before the Academy out of regard for his privacy, and because they likely weren't very different from many other students'. Whether a sudden manifestation of powers or something that had been evident since birth, they'd all experienced that feeling on some level. "Yes, that." He agreed with a nod, followed by a thoughtful pause. As far as looks went, he and Tezuka didn't have any mutations that might suggest they were 'different,' no tails or stripes or additional limbs, they were lucky on that front. Finally, he found it difficult not to just ask, "Your classmates at home found out…?"
Tezuka looked over at Oishi a little startled by the question and that he’d apparently found the one person on campus who honestly had not heard of what he had done. He had thought Oishi was just being polite earlier. “Most of Japan found out,” Tezuka said in a straightforward manner. “I made the news when I stopped a bus from hitting a young boy.”
"I-- really?" Oishi replied, sounding just as startled himself. He liked to think he'd kept up with major news events around the area, or at the very least around the country, but he did have a tendency to get tunnel-visioned when it came to studying. It was more than possible he'd just missed something like that entirely. A crease settled between his brows, "I-I guess I hadn't heard about it. How did you pull off something like that?" Maybe, In what bizarre, mutant way did you save him in order to make national news? was the clearer question. He could feel himself turning a little red, "Sorry, I didn't recognize you…"
“I’m relieved you didn’t. And apparently Fuji has saved the newspaper articles if you want to see them,” Tezuka said, his own cheeks staining red as the conversation remained on his incident. “I made the bus and several other cars hover in air before setting them down.... and I may have torn the roof off of the bus.” He looked away feeling distinctly embarrassed and not comfortable with this feeling. He suspected it wouldn’t have made such waves around Japan if it hadn’t happened in an area of Tokyo where hundreds of people were walking by with phones near enough at hand to capture all of the interesting moments.
It was hard-- impossible really-- to keep the look of wide-eyed astonishment off of Oishi's face with each new detail. Picturing the ordeal was impressive enough, the inevitable photos and reports on the incident had to be something else entirely. After a few seconds spent recovering from his shock, and frankly in a quiet awe of how powerful his new acquaintance must have really been, he opened his mouth to say something and ended up gaping a few times like a fish out of water. "I see…" Lifting entire cars off the ground was more than most of the Academy could ever hope to achieve even with training. "Fuji has it?" Somehow that cemented in Oishi's mind his need not to see the article, "W-well, in any case he was saved. That's what matters. So, you were speaking from experience earlier, about fame being worth it?"
Tezuka was a bit saddened to see Oishi’s expression at finding out just what he had done, but it was better for Oishi to find out near the beginning than think that he was lying to him. Or worse, for them to become true friends and then have this get between them because Oishi, despite all his kind words, decided he was too weird or dangerous to hang out with. Tezuka stayed silent watching Oishi process everything and gave a small hesitant smile when it seemed he had worked things out, at least for now. “I suspect you could still find videos on youtube,” Tezuka said and nodded to Oishi’s question. “Life has certainly not gone as expected since the incident, but having to relocate schools seems a small price to pay for a boy’s life.”
"Right," Oishi remarked in response, debating whether or not he'd go back to his dorm room and pull the video up on the laptop out of a sense of morbid curiosity. Though, with the way all the exposure seemed to trouble Tezuka, he was having a hard time convincing himself he could do it without a significant amount of guilt. "It's something I wouldn't exactly choose for myself, but… I agree." If it were Oishi's choice he'd probably lead the most typical, one-track life an upstanding Japanese citizen could lead, but that just wasn't in the cards. "And I think it's an admirable stance to take," he added, smiling now that he'd remembered how to breathe.
"Ah, we've sort of detoured from our tour, hm?" Oishi laughed a little at himself and adjusted the bag on his shoulder, trying to change the subject before the air was clouded too seriously to recover, "Is there anything else you're interested in seeing, Tezuka?"
Tezuka was tempted to call out Oishi on his reaction, reminding him that a man who could freeze time should not be surprised by a few floating cars, but that seemed rude and he decided to go along with Oishi’s desire to return to other topics. “Just a little. But I’m fine with just wandering the grounds. It’s a little more peaceful than the main buildings,” Tezuka said. He was thankful that at least his roommate was neat and quiet when not engaged in illicit acts. “There are certainly many interesting people here.”
"That's true," Oishi answered-- to both of Tezuka's statements really, and wound his way around the remaining perimeter of the lake, figuring they may as well round up the trip around and end up at the junior dorms, and then somewhere in the middle again. "It always tends to be quieter down here. There are some hiking trails and places to picnic, and sometimes we hold events out here. You should come out and see it at night sometime too,” he added, leading the other teen out around a long bend in the shoreline.
“I’ll have to look into the hiking trails later,” Tezuka said. As they walked around the lake, it was clear that Oishi was right and it was much quieter out here as they only passed a random student occasionally. Tezuka thought that he and Oishi should do this again after class one day if either of them or perhaps both was in need of some quiet company and a relaxing atmosphere.