[s.o.r.t.a o.p.e.n]
WHO: Souji Okita @ oni-no-ko-desu, Aoshi Shinomori @ blue-okashira [& Vash @ save-rem if Vash-mun so chooses! &~ I suppose, if anyone wants to play token orphanage children they can jump right in~]
WHAT: Souji's trying to reacquaint (was he ever acquainted in the first place?) Aoshi with the world...we feel this may be in vain.
WHERE: The Mendelssohn Orphanage
WHEN: Afternoonish
( There was a time when we expected nothing of our children but obedience, as opposed to the present, when we expect everything of them but obedience.
-- Anatole Broyard )
WHAT: Souji's trying to reacquaint (was he ever acquainted in the first place?) Aoshi with the world...we feel this may be in vain.
WHERE: The Mendelssohn Orphanage
WHEN: Afternoonish
( There was a time when we expected nothing of our children but obedience, as opposed to the present, when we expect everything of them but obedience.
-- Anatole Broyard )
Comments 67
He didn't know the first thing about children. It wasn't as if he'd ever really been one, and when Misao had come into his care, he'd done nothing more than foist her off onto the others at the Aoiya.
He had been asking after them because they were what made Souji happy, because the other saw the children every day, and came home smiling. And when Souji had asked him along, he couldn't quite say "no" to those gentle, pleading eyes.
He sighed softly, walking down the street beside Souji, almost unconsciously moving to put the other in his shadow when he reached up to shade his eyes. What had he gotten himself into?
"I...don't know," he answered carefully. "I've...never built one, either."
Naturally. Souji must have expected that.
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Shinomori was constantly being thoughtful like this, and Souji was always secretly amused whenever the other would catch the door for him, or come along simply to carry the basket whenever the younger man went shopping. He was such a socially awkward man (as Shinomori would often say in not so many words), he was so introverted but, Souji knew Shinomori was a complex man with deep thoughts, thoughts that were more often than not kept to himself. Profound. Honest. Just quiet.
"Hmmm," Souji tapped his lower lip whilst he thought, "we could hold a contest!" He beamed triumphantly latching onto the others arm, "we can be the judges, and the winner gets a ride home on Shinomori-san's shoulders, ne!"
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The grasp on his arm made Aoshi start slightly, but he glanced down as Souji spoke, a smile tugging insistently at the corners of his mouth at the other's open smile.
"How are we to judge something we've never seen?" And then, before he quite knew what he was going to say, he heard himself continue speaking.
"And why am I solely responsible for prizes?" he asked, and was that a teasing lilt in his voice?
It might have been, it might not - it was gone as quickly as it had come, only the slightest change in his tone, if Souji had been paying enough attention to catch it.
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Souji laughed and swung around in front of the other, still grasping his arm, his grip sliding down onto his hand, "because they see me all the time. It'll be a good way of showing them you're not just a tall, dark-" here Souji leaned in a little closer and bought a hand to his mouth, he looked as though he were about to reveal a secret, and he spoke with playfully-serious tone "and sinister-looking man."
Suddenly both of his hands were on Shinomori's shoulders, "but a man with board shoulders and a strong back!" Souji grinned clapping the man on the arm.
He pulled back and fell into line alongside the other man once again. Souji tapped at his lip once more, "maybe we should have teams... Shinomori-san can carry at least a three man team..."
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"Sinister?" he echoed. "I don't see how my shoulders or back will help with that image," he said rather dubiously.
As Souji fell back into step, Aoshi straightened, and was decidedly not distracted by the way Souji kept calling attention to his mouth.
Or at least, that's what he was telling himself.
"Teams?" he asked, realizing that he was talking much more than was customary, wondering if Souji would catch on to his unease - over this whole situation, but more and more so because of how easy it was to be with the other.
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It was an educated guess that Aoshi would not like being in a crowd; the man was frequently tense and always had a look a utter concentration whenever they wandered through the market place.
Being in the midst of a crowd of rowdy and unpredictable children... he most definitely wasn't going to like that.
Souji smiled sympathetically to the ground before mounting the steps up to the orphanage. "Smile. It'll be fine~" He said, reaching the enormous wooden doors of the main entrance. He'd seen Aoshi smile, extremely rare though it was, he had a very gentle smile. It softened his face in extraordinary ways.
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"Well, if three of them weigh less than one of you, I'm sure we can add a few more," he said, reaching out to push the doors open and hoping he had managed, somehow, to look slightly less imposing.
He could learn, right? It couldn't be too hard.
Could it?
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The children swarmed around them, tugging on his coat, his pants, his sleeves, all small hands and bright eyes, and Aoshi had no idea what he was supposed to do.
His mind told him to smile, to relax, but his body didn't listen, and all he could do was stand there, blue eyes wide, hand clenched about the hilt of his blade.
Already, the idle chatter was dying down, the children becoming more and more hesitant to remain close to him, and still he couldn't do anything except that pray Souji had some way to fix this.
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Souji pursed his lips, how unusual, and signaled he wanted to be put down. It was only then, when he looked down he saw Aoshi fingering the hilt of his blade. Ah, no wonder. Armed new-comers, Souji had been there when the orphanage Mother's had warned against them.
Once on the ground, Souji wordlessly pressed a hand over Aoshi's grip before turning to face the children, although his hand remained where it was.
From one side he felt several tugs on the skirt of his yukata, he peered behind him to see who it was, although he already had a pretty good idea. As expected, it was Lucy, she was no older than five and had somewhat adopted Souji as an older brother, following him like a shadow during his visits. He smiled and crouched down to her height, his hand finally leaving that of Aoshi's; if he could win her over ( ... )
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