[Fic] And Why
Short piece for nylle15 based on the prompts Renji, reasons, and the question why. Hope you got all your projects done!! Probably not quite what you were expecting, but here you go:
Yanagi Renji flips his English test over, his eyes lighting on his score. He feels them widen for just a split second in surprise and stares down at the number written in red. It is uncharacteristically low, completely unexpected. Far, far too low. It is only the second week of the new school year and the teacher stated that this test was just to determine their language level. He wouldn’t have predicted that it was even possible to get such a low score on this kind of test. He flips through the three white paper pages of the test quickly. Blake-sensei has not individually scored any of his answers, and at the very end there is a note in her bright ink. Incomplete answers. See me after class regarding your grade.
When he questions her, she flips back to the front page of the test and points to the initial paragraph of instructions. In English, please provide your answer for each question and why. Sensei taps her finger under the last two words, even circles them in pen. “If you want some of your points back, please come during lunch period to finish your answers. Next time, please make sure to read the instructions fully.”
“Yes, sensei. Thank you,” Renji responds, dipping his head towards her a little. He doesn’t let on for a second how angry he is at himself for just skimming over the instructions, for putting himself into such a position. He should have determined that the test was just too easy, read over the instructions more carefully. Such a stupid mistake, one he shouldn’t have made. And on such a stupid test too.
Lunch period ticks by as he impatiently completes his answers to silly questions like “Where is your favorite place to go on vacation?” and “If you could have any pet, which would you choose?” To Hawaii he adds …because the weather and beaches are nice and completes A cat with …because their care is simple. They are trivial reasons for trivial questions. Blake-sensei doesn’t actually want to know his favorite place to go on vacation; she wants insight into his grammar and syntax and vocabulary.
The questions continue and he rattles off insignificant reasons left and right, making sure to use the stronger words in his vocabulary when he can. With a glance at the clock he determines that he should have no trouble completing the test in time to eat before his next class.
What is one trait you value most in others?
Renji reads the question over again. He initially wrote trust below it. He should have written something like honesty or even trustworthiness, because the reasons for desiring those qualities are more clear-cut: most people want friends who are honest and trustworthy. It is harder to explain in words, particularly English words, his reasons for desiring the trust of others.
“I’m trusting you on that,” Genichirou said during one of their first interschool matches in freshman year. They’d been playing doubles, the score had been too close for anyone’s liking, and Renji had been ready to swear that if they continued to target the opponent’s front player, they could win in three more games. It was the first time he used data with Genichirou instead of against him, the first time he used it with anyone other than Sadaharu.
There is a memory of showing Seiichi and Genichirou data on an opposing team and not being questioned about its value, but asked how to put it to use. Another of Seiichi deciding to work on his accuracy after being told that he repeatedly missed his target by a good two centimeters when using a backhand. Genichirou asking about his own tendencies and how to work out of them. Developing new techniques with each other and knowing that they wouldn’t be copied or stolen, only torn apart and tested until they were good and better and best. Seiichi saying, “You aren’t captain or vice-captain, Renji, but we’ll need your input” and Genichirou’s nod and his own feeling that they didn’t even need to tell him that, it was a given.
It spreads out beyond tennis though, this trust. Renji recalls the first time Seiichi asked him to get something out of his locker, telling him the combination without a second thought. Being asked by Genichirou how to go about answering unwanted love letters. Sharing criticisms of and jokes about their teammates and teachers without worrying about anyone else finding out. Seiichi’s shaky death grip on his hand when the three of them went for a walk the first time, his firm answer of “It’s okay, I trust you” when asked if he’d rather they get the nurse. Genichirou’s slammed locker and frustrated exclamation of “I don’t want to do this for Yukimura anymore!” after a day of off-season practice in early March, another quieter bang of metal and the added comment, "Don't tell him that."
Being trusted is to be respected and valued, needed. It is rewarding and satisfying and far too dangerous.
If he had an extra twenty minutes, could write in his first language, and didn’t care what the teacher thought at all, Renji might have tried to find a way to put all of that into some kind of sentence, his “and why” for listing trust. Instead he pauses and writes out …because trust is important for strong relationships. It is another quick and simple reason, and he can use the word “relationships”, which will hopefully please Blake-sensei into upping his score.
END
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I'm not very happy with this at all, but...oh well. I've been writing a lot of Renji lately, but I can't quite get a good hold on him yet and this is just sort of...blah.
Yanagi Renji flips his English test over, his eyes lighting on his score. He feels them widen for just a split second in surprise and stares down at the number written in red. It is uncharacteristically low, completely unexpected. Far, far too low. It is only the second week of the new school year and the teacher stated that this test was just to determine their language level. He wouldn’t have predicted that it was even possible to get such a low score on this kind of test. He flips through the three white paper pages of the test quickly. Blake-sensei has not individually scored any of his answers, and at the very end there is a note in her bright ink. Incomplete answers. See me after class regarding your grade.
When he questions her, she flips back to the front page of the test and points to the initial paragraph of instructions. In English, please provide your answer for each question and why. Sensei taps her finger under the last two words, even circles them in pen. “If you want some of your points back, please come during lunch period to finish your answers. Next time, please make sure to read the instructions fully.”
“Yes, sensei. Thank you,” Renji responds, dipping his head towards her a little. He doesn’t let on for a second how angry he is at himself for just skimming over the instructions, for putting himself into such a position. He should have determined that the test was just too easy, read over the instructions more carefully. Such a stupid mistake, one he shouldn’t have made. And on such a stupid test too.
Lunch period ticks by as he impatiently completes his answers to silly questions like “Where is your favorite place to go on vacation?” and “If you could have any pet, which would you choose?” To Hawaii he adds …because the weather and beaches are nice and completes A cat with …because their care is simple. They are trivial reasons for trivial questions. Blake-sensei doesn’t actually want to know his favorite place to go on vacation; she wants insight into his grammar and syntax and vocabulary.
The questions continue and he rattles off insignificant reasons left and right, making sure to use the stronger words in his vocabulary when he can. With a glance at the clock he determines that he should have no trouble completing the test in time to eat before his next class.
What is one trait you value most in others?
Renji reads the question over again. He initially wrote trust below it. He should have written something like honesty or even trustworthiness, because the reasons for desiring those qualities are more clear-cut: most people want friends who are honest and trustworthy. It is harder to explain in words, particularly English words, his reasons for desiring the trust of others.
“I’m trusting you on that,” Genichirou said during one of their first interschool matches in freshman year. They’d been playing doubles, the score had been too close for anyone’s liking, and Renji had been ready to swear that if they continued to target the opponent’s front player, they could win in three more games. It was the first time he used data with Genichirou instead of against him, the first time he used it with anyone other than Sadaharu.
There is a memory of showing Seiichi and Genichirou data on an opposing team and not being questioned about its value, but asked how to put it to use. Another of Seiichi deciding to work on his accuracy after being told that he repeatedly missed his target by a good two centimeters when using a backhand. Genichirou asking about his own tendencies and how to work out of them. Developing new techniques with each other and knowing that they wouldn’t be copied or stolen, only torn apart and tested until they were good and better and best. Seiichi saying, “You aren’t captain or vice-captain, Renji, but we’ll need your input” and Genichirou’s nod and his own feeling that they didn’t even need to tell him that, it was a given.
It spreads out beyond tennis though, this trust. Renji recalls the first time Seiichi asked him to get something out of his locker, telling him the combination without a second thought. Being asked by Genichirou how to go about answering unwanted love letters. Sharing criticisms of and jokes about their teammates and teachers without worrying about anyone else finding out. Seiichi’s shaky death grip on his hand when the three of them went for a walk the first time, his firm answer of “It’s okay, I trust you” when asked if he’d rather they get the nurse. Genichirou’s slammed locker and frustrated exclamation of “I don’t want to do this for Yukimura anymore!” after a day of off-season practice in early March, another quieter bang of metal and the added comment, "Don't tell him that."
Being trusted is to be respected and valued, needed. It is rewarding and satisfying and far too dangerous.
If he had an extra twenty minutes, could write in his first language, and didn’t care what the teacher thought at all, Renji might have tried to find a way to put all of that into some kind of sentence, his “and why” for listing trust. Instead he pauses and writes out …because trust is important for strong relationships. It is another quick and simple reason, and he can use the word “relationships”, which will hopefully please Blake-sensei into upping his score.
END
---
I'm not very happy with this at all, but...oh well. I've been writing a lot of Renji lately, but I can't quite get a good hold on him yet and this is just sort of...blah.