Scene Listing || Scene Schedule || Scene Schedule RSS
Owner Pose
Kenji Kawasaki      Kenji Kawasaki isn't sure about this.

     That's nothing *new*, of course. Kenji is very rarely sure about anything in the world he's been thrust into. It's only been two years since Kojin arrived, forcibly joining to his soul and introducing him to the wide world of magic. It's been *less* than a year since he joined the Union, inducted into the sprawling multiverse that lay beyond Japan's borders. He hasn't had a lot of time to get used to things, and he hasn't had a lot of time to find his center, figure out where he's heading, or find out what he wants to get out of life.

     But Kojin's advice is usually good, when Kojin isn't being actively malicious. The god ultimately has his best interests at heart, and whenever Kojin prefaces anything with 'listen, Kenji', he usually means well. So...

     ...so he called Allenby.

     Kenji is waiting on a bench in the Americas, in large part because he's never been there, and he's betting she hasn't either. While he's trying to remain relaxed, there's a sort of nervous energy about him that he just can't conceal. He's not an expert fighter - he's a street punk who got picked by a god. Zen training isn't something he ever really received.

     So he waits, arms spread out on the back of the little wooden bench, watching the river in front of him go by. It's a nice little park. It's in the middle of a big-ass city, which kind of skews the view a bit and, in Kenji's opinion, makes it not entirely worth it. Kojin would probably say something about the human experience trying to close metal around nature in order to feel at home.

     It's something to think about while he waits.
Allenby Beardsley     Kenji would find that he doesn't need to wait very long. Which is actually pretty impressive considering the full extent of Allenby's situation. Maybe she /hadn't/ run off on them recently so this one was allowed to slide. Maybe they realized that they actually can't keep her still if she really wanted to leave.

    Kenji will feel a weight settle down over his shoulders followed by something on the very top of his head, focused to a single point. His peripheral vision would show him that there are a pair of arms draped loosely over his arms. As for the pointy-feeling object, it moves a little, along with a:

    "Hey there." from Allenby from above and behind the punk. "What's up? You wanted to hang out, right?"

    She shifts, bending over a little more so she can peek her head over his shoulder, giving him a view of that blue hair of hers.
Kenji Kawasaki      Allenby is a master of sneaking, or at least a master of being too fast for people who aren't her to keep up with. She gets her hands over his and he nearly jumps, except for the pressure on his head - had he jumped, he probaby would've broken...something on himself, because Allenby's a *lot* tougher than he is. It wouldn't even be a very good way to start a conversation like this.

     He does, however, let out a surprised yelp, which sends some ducks on the river flying off.

     "I wasn't expecting you to sneak up on me like that!" Kenji manages, looking at her sidelong, "Hell! I'm glad I'm in good shape, you might've given me a damn heart attack!"

     A few moments go by. It's not like Kenji to wait for long, though, and since calling her was the hard part, he might as well just punch through it and get it over with one way or another:

     "Allenby, do you have a boyfriend?"
Allenby Beardsley     Allenby laughs mischeviously as Kenji yelps and squirms. It was pretty much the exact reaction she'd expected-hell, maybe even a little muted. Part of her was anticipating him throwing a wild strike behind him to clear himself of his "attacker." It wouldn't have bothered her to get hit, even in the face, since she was used to it.

    "Pfff, you're way too young for heart attacks." she laughs, moving her other arm so now she's more or less entirely flopped over Kenji's right arm and the bench. She turns her head so she can look at him, expecting an answer to her question but receiving several moments of awkward silence.

    Her eyebrows lift at the question, "A boyfriend? Nope, nothing official or anything. Yeah, I have a /love interest/ but that's not really the same, especially when it gets played straight trope style, you know?" She pauses, then palms her face with a gloved hand. "Ugggh that sounds so depressing when said outloud. But at least it's /been/ fun."
Kenji Kawasaki      Alright, so, that was unexpected. Kenji gives Allenby a weird look. "How do you have a love interest and not a boyfriend? What the hell is the difference?"

     He scratches the back of his head. "Damn, people outside Japan just don't make any fucking sense!"

     But at least the awkwardness is gone. Once you ask something like that and get an answer, the awkwardness can only linger for so long. He sighs. "You think you could explain that for me in terms normal people would understand, or is it just gonna confuse the hell out of me?"
Allenby Beardsley     "The difference is when you call someone a boyfriend, it's /official/. Serious. When you call someone a love interest, it's like...eh, could happen, right? Like relationship limbo. At least that's how I think about it." Bluntly she adds, "You're talking about Shin, right? Well to put it in the...uh, I guess roleplaying storyline terms he has, he's too early in his heroic journey for a serious relationship."

    She pushes away from the bench and instead walks around it so she can sit down on it next to him. She leans forward, her hands gripping the edge of the bench. "Or, I guess, it's like having a crush on someone only everyone knows about it. So while we're being super direct and all, now it's my turn. Do you like me, Kenji?"

    When she asks her awful, awful question, she leans back to look at him.
Kenji Kawasaki      "That...okay, that makes sense," Kenji admits, scratching the back of his head again. He probably does that when he's nervous. "So it's like admitting that he likes you and you like him, you hang out and do stuff, but it's not..."

     "Okay. I can get my head around that."

     She asks.

     "Yeah, I do," Kenji replies, almost immediately. His eyes don't waver at all. However nervous or shy he gets, however bad he is at opening up to people, Kenji is at least *extremely* decisive. He'd already made the decision to take a stpe forward, one way or another. Come what may, at least he's kept his promise to himself.

     "I like you a lot. You're cute, you're fun, you're tough as hell. We don't like a lot of the same things but I like hanging out with you. That's why I had to ask. If you had said yes and told me you had a boyfriend..."

     He shrugs. "I dunno. At least I would know, and I could start figuring out what I wanted to do from there. I'm not the kind of guy who tries to screw over somebody else's happiness for my own sake. I might be kind of a punk, but that's a line I just can't cross."

     "That kind of guy is the kind of person I hate most in the world."
Allenby Beardsley     "Yeah, that's pretty much it." Allenby agrees. "I bet people think I'm not mature enough to know the difference but I am. I /do/ know the difference." She doesn't sound proud or bitter about this, just neutral. "I'm glad it's coming together for you 'cause I'm not really sure how else to explain it without resorting to comics."

    For a few moments, she watches him as he answers the question she asked, her own gaze unwavering, taking in his response. It's a pleasant surprised to hear him answer so directly and without hesitation or shyness. It's decisiveness that Allenby appreciates, eliciting a small nod out of her. "You're prickly but I was still getting that impression from you."

    Now she leans back against the bench, looking up at the sky, regardless of whether or not he keeps his arm there. She'll lean on top of it if she has to and doesn't seem to mind its presence. "Huh, you think so?" a laugh escapes her, "I'd always wondered if I was driving you crazy-in the bad way, that is."

    Her head drops down, green eyes peering at him, "You won't have to worry though. You're not screwing up anyone's happiness. It wouldn't surprise me if you wound up fistfighting Shin at one point, though, if he ever decided to be real. I like him, sure, but I like you too. You're direct. Honest. And you don't waste your time with stuff you don't like."
Kenji Kawasaki      Okay, that makes him blush a little. Kenji scratches his cheek and looks away from her. "Y-yeah? Well...okay. Cool. I'm glad. I wasn't...you know, I wasn't sure, and then I heard the thing on the fighting radio and I thought..."

     "..."

     "I didn't handle it great," he finishes lamely, which is a small lie - he handled it by smashing his way through monsters and raging out of control, but Allenby doesn't need to know that. There's HONESTY, and then there's...you know...need-to-know.

     "*That* drove me crazy in a bad way. You...no."

     "Which...brings me to my second question."

     "I want you to teach me how to fight. For reals, not this street-fighting punk bullshit. It's a big world out there and I can't just get by on this. I can't help anybody with the strength I've got right now. I need to get better, better at fighting, better at handling Kojin's power, better at everything. You're one of the strongest people I personally know, I like hanging out with you, and I bet your style suits me way better than Mr. Reiji's or Ms. Xiaomu's. So...I want you to teach me how to fight better."
Allenby Beardsley     "And thought Shin was my boyfriend?" Allenby doesn't really remember what it was that Shin said either but she could imagine. The two of them weren't exactly quiet, especially not over the Broadband, though she's certain that Kenji is not on the Broadband.

    Maybe it's a good thing that he isn't, given his reaction. Realization dawns on her.

    While she's considering the implications of an actual love triangle without gleefully pointing it out-because, honestly, she always thought it would be a two girls after the same guy scenario and not the other way around-she almost misses what Kenji says next.

    "I can do that. Or, you know, try. It's going to take a long time, though. I didn't get the way I am in a few months-I've been trained for well over a decade." Of course, Allenby doesn't look older than 17. "You fight without a weapon style. Neither do I. But there are just some things about fighting that hold up no matter what style you're using and I can show you that." She grins at him.
Kenji Kawasaki      Kenji shrugs. "It was during that martial arts tournament. He mentioned giving you the prize and said something about the nature of your relationship, and I just..."

     "I dunno, fuck! I don't exactly do this often, okay?!" He looks away from her, staring intently at a nearby tree. Hello, tree.

     "Yeah, I know. But I'm a quick study, and I'll pick shit up as we go along. And I'm not just some nobody punk. I'm the goddamn boss of my school. I've been the boss for three years, too. I beat the crap out of the other guys who beat the crap out of people, I beat the crap out of guys from other schools...I'd never had any training but I was still the strongest guy in the area."

     "Guys who'd been fighting since middle school were scared shitless of me. Still are. I make the rounds every so often just to remind 'em I'm not gone."

     On the surface, it sounds kind of like bragging. But it's not an aggrandization of his accomplishments at all, not in tone - his voice is just kind of matter-of-fact about it. It's something he felt he had to do, probably, or something he did for some reason beyond just 'being strong'.

     The reason comes along a moment later.

     "I help people," He admits, "I like helping people. I know that's weird for a guy who wears as much leather as I do to say, but I'm not the kinda guy who's okay with robbing people and beating up the weak. I turned a bunch of shitty thugs into a real force to protect our neighborhood. I beat those guys until they figured out what was right and what was wrong. I got strong to protect people. And in this world..."

     Kenji closes his hands into fists. "I'm not strong here. And I can't protect the things I care about."

     "So I need to work harder."

     "I'm not gonna feed you some shit about wanting to protect you, because I'm pretty sure you're stronger than me in a way I can't even comprehend, and that'd just insult you. But it's a fact that as I am right now, I'm relying too much on Kojin, and I need to get better on my own, too."
Allenby Beardsley     "Oh THAT!" Now it came back to her. Allenby was making comments about the weird prizes being given out, one of which was a whip. "Have you ever had a girlfriend before? 'Cause this whole talking it out seems kind of rough on you."

    Or awkward. Or just...something, since she can kind of tell when guys are uncomfortable. But now Kenji doesn't seem that off balance-in fact, he seems pretty honest right now as he describes his fight history and the time he's spent cultivating-"A reputation." Allenby interrupts, "You've got a huge reputation. No offense but you beat up a bunch of other high school punks that have had probably less 'training' than you. You need to fight people on your level or else you won't get any better."

    She pauses, "Er, yeah, sorry for interrupting. Go on." She's quiet afterwards as he explains his reasons for fighting-helping people? She lifts an eyebrow as if to agree with the 'I know that's weird' part. "Huh...fighting to help people..."

    She rubs the back of her head, "It's really noble of you. I mean to want to fight to help people. I really don't need protection unless that Yuri guy decides to really tee off on me."

    She looks contemplative, "He's not with the Union, though, so I don't think I have to worry about him too much."
Kenji Kawasaki      "It's not *just* a reputation," Kenji reminds her, "I /do/ beat the crap out of actual monsters. It's just...I need Kojin to do that. And I'm not okay with just relying on somebody else forever."

     His face goes a bright red. "No, I haven't had a girlfriend before! Do I seem like the kinda guy girls want to hang around with?! I'm a boss, I hang out with thugs and delinquents! What kind of girl-"

     He stops, before she gives him the *really obvious answer*.

     "...I'm just not used to opening up to people. Like, at all. I don't think the people I work with even know I'm Taiyo High's boss. I don't really...talk about myself often. I don't like it. It's not great. I just...you know, I wanted to..."

     He gestures sort of vaguely at the air. "...I figure I'd rather tell you than anybody else. You're easy to talk to, mostly. You're fucking crazy, but in a good way. It makes you really easy to get along with, even if it's also..." He shrugs again.

     "...you're worth it."

     For a brief moment, the radio conversation intrudes. Kenji bickers with Shin for a bit, before what basically amounts to a public love declaration on a radio he wasn't aware was public.

     The look on his face - /given that he's sitting right in front of her/ - is almost indescribable. He's red enough to match Kojin's flames. He clearly can't decide if he should move, bury his head in something so he doesn't have to look at her, or call Kojin and teleport the hell away. Deer In The Headlights is definitely engaged.
Allenby Beardsley     As he is about to say 'what kind of girl' likes a delinquent, Allenby lifts an eyebrow. A smirk follows.

    Allenby doesn't say anything smart aleky, just letting that look on her face do the talking.

    "Well, then I'm flattered you would open up to me." Allenby says, her voice devoid of flippant playfulness. "Especially since you're not opening up to you co-workers. Well, unless you aren't working for them willingly I guess."

    She's also listening to that radio conversation, happy to interrupt the charade and tell Shin what exactly had Kenji all worked up. She gets to watch his sputtering reaction in person, which makes her giggle with delight. After she calms down, she offers, consolingly, "It's not THAT public a channel. There are maybe, like, four other guys on it? Maybe five?" She reaches over to give him a playful shove.
Kenji Kawasaki      "It's complicated and I basically can't tell you anything about it beyond the monster-fighting thing but trust me that as much as I like them it's not totally willing. I do get paid pretty awesomely thought."

     He shrugs. "I dunno, I just...they're my seniors. You're not. You're my age, you hang out with me. We have fun. For them it's just a job."

     He slumps forward a bit with relief when she mentions that Fight Club is actually pretty small. "Thank God. So I'm not gonna be the talk of the town for the rest of the week, huh? Jesus...talk about embarassing. I can't believe I said half of that shit."
Allenby Beardsley     "Not totally willing..." Allenby looks contemplative, "I guess i'st because Koijin moved in so they need to keep track of you? Would make sense to me. Can't just have people running around with godpowers. That's kind of a drag."

    Or, as Kenji explains, Allenby's just more relatable than his bosses.

    "Yeah, don't worry about your heartfelt confession. I mean, at least you didn't do it on the /Broadband/, that would have been a disaster. But you know, I'm glad you did, because it shows you have guts. I like that. Guts."