tenipuri_xp | Log: Kaidoh and Ohtori (Reply)

Rating: G
Dated: 5/26, a while after Kaidoh has had to "move in" with Ohtori because of the explosion
Summary: Kaidoh comes back from another round of tests and is given some food for thought when he talks to his temporary roommate.

Kaidoh Kaoru sighed and looked at the closed door in front of him. He raised his hand to knock, feeling a bit stupid even as he did so. Ever since the “accident” which had resulted in the loss of his room – and all of his things – he’d been staying with Ohtori-kun until another room could be made ready for him. Even after a few days, he didn’t feel right about entering without knocking. It really wasn’t his room, and to just walk in would be downright rude. He was already putting the other boy out by staying with him in the first place, but seeing as how going home and forgetting all of this mutant mess in the first place was out of the question, this would have to do.

He turned his fist sideways, pounding with the side of his hand, not wanting to hear the strange sound the protruding bone on his knuckles made when he knocked. Hopefully the other boy would answer; Kaidoh was tired from another “examination” and really just wanted to sit down for a good long while and… not think about anything too complicated.

Ohtori smiled faintly and rose from his desk, shaking his head. Kaidoh-san was really too considerate to be real at times, he'd been told over and over again that he could just come in, it was his room as well. Walking quietly to the door, he knew the simple routines already, and grabbed a can of juice on the way over. Opening the door, careful to touch only the black tape, he greeted the boy with a smile and a cold drink. "Hi. You look tired."

He sat down on the makeshift cot the school supplied. It had taken forever to convince the other boy to take the bed, but seemed a good plan in his opinion. After all, his own room had only been rattled by the explosion. He cocked his head and frowned. "Are you okay?"

Kaidoh blinked at the offered drink – the way Ohtori-kun seemed to think of everything was still a little unnerving to him – and made his way over to the bed, as the other boy made it clear he should by dropping down onto the cot he insisted on using while Kaidoh stayed in his room. Kaidoh felt this was completely unnecessary – after all, what if he ripped the sheets? Or the mattress? It was by pure luck he hadn’t done it to his own bed, he was sure, though luck didn’t seem to be something that favored him as of late, if ever.

“M’fine,” he mumbled in response to the question, finally deciding to give up on appearances and sink down onto the bed, gulping down the wonderfully cold juice. “They just wanted to run some more tests. I’m in there more than someone who actually stayed hurt.” He sighed. “Don’t know when I’ll get a room again, though,” he said quietly, guilt overcoming him once more at displacing the other boy from his bed.

The silvery haired boy smiled calmingly and grabbed a juice for himself. He'd noticed Kaidoh-san was always being tested, and he always felt horrible after testing. His mother had always said a cold drink would make anything seem better, so he had been keeping a small stock available for himself and his room mate. It had been strange at first, seeing someone else with a more physical manifestation of a mutation, but after a boy with wings has sat on your couch, you learn to just ignore things like unusual bone growths.
"Sorry they keep bothering you for tests. On the bright side, more testing means maybe they can find some way to help you out. Right?" He took a sip of the juice, relaxing as the cold fluids ran down his throat. How did his mother always know what worked best? "You know, I don't mind at all that you stay. Really, I don't mind at all. It's nice to have someone around. So don't feel bad." He smiled reassuringly and walked past him, patting his shoulder in a friendly way on his way by. Throwing out the can, he cracked the window in the room.

Kaidoh just ducked his head, nodding as Ohtori-kun tried yet again to reassure him that his presence wasn’t in the way. He really wasn’t so sure. At least it was better than spending the night in the infirmary – although he’d been completely healed a few hours after the explosion, thanks to what they called his “latent healing factor” they’d kept him two extra days to examine just that. And that, coupled with their further tests, seemed to be making some of the bone grow more. Which was the absolute last thing he wanted.

Besides. He’d never admit it, but it hurt. It wasn’t debilitating pain, but it was constant and thus a constant drain. The juice was helping, though. He sighed, taking one last swig as Ohtori-kun crossed the room and opened the window; the breeze that wafted in cooled the sweat on Kadoh’s forehead and definitely helped. He crumpled the can in one hand, getting up to throw it away before sinking back onto the bed.

“Thanks,” he muttered, not really sure what he was thanking the other boy for. The juice, the breeze, the bed, the kindness… “But I don’t think they’re trying to help. I think they’re just making it worse.”

Ohtori smiled as he returned to the makeshift bed and draped over it. Sure it was a little small, and his ankles tended to hang off of the edge awkwardly, he didn't actually mind at all. The room cooled down nicely thanks to an open window.

He draped a long arm over his brown eyes and looked up at the ceiling, the other arm over his rising and falling chest. "No problem. If you ever need anything, just ask." Yawning quietly, he frowned at the idea of doing even more homework and got comfier instead. "Why would they want to make things worse? Aren't they here to help us fit in?"

He couldn't help but wonder again if Kamio was right, and this place wasn't all it was cracked up to be. It did seem to have an almost prison approach, but questioning it would lead to another unusual conversation with Fuji Syuusuke.

“They want to figure out how this works,” Kaidoh said, holding up one arm, bone-encrusted knuckles and elbow highlighting his point. “I just want it to go away. How can I fit in? I can’t hide this,” he said, gesturing now to his face, where the bone had finally broken through the skin on his cheeks and sent him here in the first place. He’d been hiding everything else and… well, not really doing fine, as it had been impacting his tennis, to say the least, but… he really couldn’t hide it anymore. But no one here seemed to realize that he only wanted this to go away so he could go back home where no one noticed him. Here, even among other mutants, he still stood out because the student body was both small and each person unique in a way that got them the special attention he so badly wanted to avoid.

“At least you don’t look any different,” he said, knowing full well that Ohtori-kun had his own problems, evidenced by the electrical tape plastered over anything and everything metal in the room.

Smiling as soothingly as he could, he studied the other boy. "Maybe some day they will find a way to fix us all." He hated making it sound like they were broken, but the truth was society seemed to see them as such. "I know you want to go back to a normal life, I do too. Maybe something wonderful will happen?" He wanted to tell him it didn't look all that bad, but the truth was it looked horribly painful and made him worry frequently about the former stranger.

He bit his lip, choosing to pick his arguments and words carefully. "I might not look any different, but at least you can't just kill someone by touching them wrong." He mumbled quietly, studying the sparks between his fingers as he worked a basic manipulation exercise he'd been taught recently.

The chances of anything wonderful happening to Kaidoh Kaoru were nearly negative, and he knew it. Though he wished very badly that something would happen to make all of this disappear, he knew better than to ever expect it. But he still hadn’t quite come to terms with living with this… problem, and he damn well knew it. And so did the “teachers” here – which must be why they seemed to constantly prod him about it.

“I guess not,” he admitted a bit sullenly, knowing full well that although he could certainly hurt someone very badly if he bumped them in the wrong way, it was nowhere near as lethal as what Ohtori-kun could do. And it was obvious that his classmate-turned-roommate worried about just that, and often. Kaidoh heaved a sigh and glanced up, the glow of a faint spark arcing between the other boy’s fingers momentarily transfixing him and causing him to open his mouth again when he usually would not.

“Does that hurt you?” he asked – it didn’t really look like it, but then he was extremely bad at reading people, and for once he was actually curious.

..Kaidoh-san always seemed so lonely. Even among the other students, he didn't seem too comfortable. They had that much in common. "Sorry I got a bit moody with you. I guess I miss someone." He smiled mysteriously and upped his electric output enough to be clearly visible like bottled lightening trapped around his fingertips. "Maybe they won't be able to help us. But at least they might help make the world safe enough for us to go back out into it and try to live some semblance of a normal life. We've just got to keep hoping and trying, right?"

Looking up from the sparks, he shrugged. "Mostly just my feelings." He smiled faintly and wagged his fingers. "Besides, I am doing it at a very low power. It's sort of like rubbing socks on a carpet and poking someone." He had his tongue peaking out slightly between his white teeth as he concentrated on the energy. "You can touch it now and all you'd get is a nasty jolt."

“Hn,” Kaidoh huffed. “According to them, I’d be over that in a few seconds.” He watched the electricity glow brighter around Ohtori-kun’s hand. “So you don’t hafta worry about hurting me, at least.” He didn’t even know if bone was conductive – maybe he wouldn’t even feel it at all.

“Besides,” he continued, “are they trying to make the world safe for us, or from us? It’s not like I can ever face anyone I knew before, looking like this.” He often wondered, late at night, what everyone at school thought, and also what his parents thought. But he never found an answer, and often drifted into sleep with endless questions of acceptance – from himself and the rest of the world – echoing through his head.

Frowning, he waited for it to dispel before even considering moving. At least since Shishido brought that shampoo his hair didn't stick up quite as badly. "Well, that's good to know. Maybe that's why they put us together?" He was still wondering about the room assignments, something felt ominous, almost planned about the whole arrangement.

"I- I keep hoping it is for us. But lately I have been wondering the same. I know I can't go back to my old neighborhood either. So, I can't fully say I understand your situation. But I am trying my very best to. Sorry if I am a bother. But…you know you can always talk about it and I'll try to listen." He picked up another can of juice, and winced. Aluminum. He'd forgotten about that. Ah well. "Want another one?"

“Sure,” Kaidoh said; he still felt pretty drained, and another can of juice certainly wouldn’t hurt. He accepted the can from the other boy, noticing him wince but for no apparent reason. He shrugged to himself and cracked open the can carefully; his knuckles hurt.

“And you’re not a bother,” he mumbled quickly, feeling himself flush for no apparent reason other than he was trying to assuage another’s feelings – something he’d never been very good at. “It’s… fine.” He wasn’t one to really talk about things, but Ohtori-kun had this air about him that just kept making Kaidoh open his mouth when he otherwise would have kept it closed. He didn’t understand it at all. "But you don't have to keep going out of your way."

Sitting back on the cot when the other had his juice, Ohtori smiled faintly. The juice at least seemed to make Kaidoh-san look a bit more alert. He must've had a particularly brutal examination today. On really bad days he wouldn't say anything for hours. Making the silver haired boy create a new habit of greeting him as he came in with a friendly smile and a few words.

"Thanks. But if I get to be, you can just tell me to shut up. I don't mind." He rested his hands between his knees and calmed down a little. Smiling back up with a 1000 watt smile (pardon that…) he cocked his head cutely. "It's never going out of the way to be kind to a friend. I think of you as a friend." Quite possibly his only other friend. Especially since it appeared Shishido wouldn't be able to visit with this lockdown.

Kaidoh ducked his head again as he felt the flush return – Ohtori was certainly much more open than the people Kaidoh normally used to spend time with, if it could have been called that. Sure he’d had friends at school, but they were more like acquaintances, really, and he’d almost never hung out with them outside of tennis practice. He’d always been training alone, and too busy with that and his homework to spend much time with “friends.” Hell, he’d spent more time with his little brother than any of his non-tennis-playing classmates.

“’Syour room, you can talk as much as you want, anyway,” he said, not wanting to state in any obvious way that he really didn’t mind the way Ohtori-kun talked… and that he actually thought it was maybe a little nice for a change. He still wasn’t used to one-on-one attention like this, but at least the other boy didn’t stare or make comments – even before he’d begun sprouting bone through his skin Kaidoh had gotten stares and whispers, when really he’d just wanted to be left alone.

Kaidoh was blushing again, making Ohtori's face begin to turn a light pink shade too. "It is your room too until they fix yours." He smiled and gestured to the exceedingly minimalist room, he didn't bring much as he had half hoped he'd leave as soon as his powers were controlled. He looked normal enough that if he could control himself, no one would ever have to know he was different.

"So, uhm…do you mind my asking…what kinds of tests do they do on you?" He wondered how differently everyone here was tested, and thought maybe it would give him better insight into what made the poor dark haired boy he was sharing his space with look so defeated.

Kaidoh sighed, glancing up at Ohtori-kun. “I dunno what they do half the time, but most of it’s hooking me up to monitors and stuff – like heart rate and blood pressure. And they did a CAT scan once.” He paused, glancing at the inside of his elbow, at the small space there were the bone hadn’t broken the skin. “They take a lot of blood, when they can.” He closed his eyes for a moment, aware of every inch of his skin – most especially those parts where the bone broke through. Those parts felt different, even when he wasn’t thinking about it. And they usually ached.

Now they were doing more than aching – they were stinging, and all because of those damn tests. “Usually whenever they stick me it makes this worse,” he said, holding up his right arm, where the bone growth at his elbow was visibly larger than that on his left. “They think it’s some kind of reflex response or something.” He hissed lowly. “I hate it. I wish it wouldn’t do that.”

"Hmmm.." He thought a while on what they had done to him, and decided they must have specific tests for each mutation. Smiling almost nervously, he wandered to his desk and pulled out just the thing. Bandaids. Astro-boy Bandaids. Picking one out, he walked to his room mate with a playful smile and put it quickly over the enlarged bone growth before sitting down and resisting a quick chuckle at the dumbfounded look his room mate was giving him. "I know it doesn't help anything at all. But at the very least, I think even just pointless acts like that make things less tense around here. And a bit more like home."

Kaidoh stared at his roommate, not sure how to react. He finally tore his eyes away from the amused-looking boy to consider the Bandaid now decorating his arm. “Um,” he said; then, aware that he was going to hurt the other’s feelings when he really wanted to do no such thing, “Thanks… I… think. I mean – ” He cut himself off, shaking his head and staring at his lap. He took a swig of juice and tried to think of something intelligent to say.

He just didn’t quite understand Ohtori. Sure, he was nice to everyone, but that included Kaidoh and he really did seem to be genuinely concerned about Kaidoh’s situation – something Kaidoh wasn’t used to at all, really, and didn’t quite know how to react to. He usually spent so much time trying to get people to ignore him that he was at a loss as to what to do when they did the complete opposite. But it wasn’t like the way the teachers here paid attention to him – they seemed nice sometimes, but Hanamura-sensei especially seemed to treat him more like a thing than a person. And Ohtori-kun was completely different.

“Nevermind,” he finally sighed, not lifting his eyes. “I mean, I’m fine, I guess. Maybe they’ll get sick of studying me soon. I don’t think they’re really getting anywhere.” He paused, again strangely curious. He’d… never actually needed a band-aid before. “Do they stick to anything?”

"You're welcome…I think." He felt awkward really. Kaidoh seemed sensitive, so he was always worried he'd upset the other boy and that was the exact opposite of his goal. He'd come to this school afraid to even look at people or be within a few feet and now here he was putting bandaids on another mutant and trying to make him feel better, in spite of having very similar issues.

Ohtori laughed lightly and walked to the desk, putting one on over the bridge of his nose. "Nah, they stick to me too. You've never needed bandages for a skinned knee or anything before?"

“Not… really.” Kaidoh blinked at Ohtori’s silliness. “If I hurt myself, it always stopped bleeding pretty fast and never needed anything.” He paused in thought a moment, realizing that maybe he’d been different from “normal people” for far longer than he’d ever thought. “I don’t really get sick either,” he added. “It goes away after a day or so. I’ve only ever been to the doctor a few times. Well,” he sighed, “before this, anyway.” Now it seemed like he was in the medical lab at least once a day – probably because he was. “Seems like this’s good for nothing but looking scary and keeping me healthy. Great.” He didn’t mind being healthy, really – where was the harm in that? It was the looking like a monster part that he could really, really do without. “Seems like no one’s got powers they wouldn’t rather be without, anyway. The whole thing sucks,” he said sourly.

"I don't think you look scary at all. You just should smile more." He smiled a little himself, and pulled the bandaid form his nose, wincing slightly. "If people think you look scary that makes them cowards and idiots. As far as staying healthy goes, I sort of like that idea. I still catch bad colds, and then it's like a lightening storm in my room." He flopped on the floor and curled up. "It does suck."

Kaidoh wasn’t so sure about that – he’d seen himself in the mirror, even though he generally avoided glancing at it whenever he could, and he knew he looked like something in a circus sideshow. And as for others being cowards and idiots, it was a nice thought, though he didn’t quite believe it.

But at least he wasn’t the only one whose mutation caused more trouble than it was worth. He wondered again, for what seemed like the thousandth time, if he – and the others here – would be cursed with these strange powers forever. The answer, as always, was “yes,” though he wished that just once there might be a glimmer of hope that he could regain his old life back.

… Though had it really been all that great? At least here someone was nice to him… He brushed that thought away quickly, along with the strange feeling that came with it, and sighed. Was it really so odd that he didn’t smile often? He didn’t think it would help at all, anyway.

“You can have the not getting sick,” he said sarcastically. “I wish I knew how to give these ‘powers’ away in the first place.”

Kaidoh-san looked distracted. Ohtori frowned slightly and ran his fingers through the somewhat softer silvery hair and tried to smile happily. Sometimes smiling too much made his cheeks hurt, but it tended to be contagious, and really Kaidoh would be better off at least trying to smile.

Cocking his head, he leaned back in the cot and thought to himself a while longer. "I'll take the not getting sick, and you can have the ability to charge car batteries. Sounds like a fair trade, ne?" Laughing at the memory, one of the last he had of his family really, he leaned forward and rested his hands on his knees. "Maybe they'll find a mutant that can transfer powers. Then we'd be set, right?"

He started laughing to himself for a while, before realizing Kaidoh was looking at him like he was insane. Better to share the joke. "You know…when I was a kid, I read a lot of comic books and watched some cartoons and always thought it would be great…you know, to have super powers and be able to save the world. Everyone loves the hero…"

“You can charge car batteries?” He’d really… not had too much of an idea of what the other boy could do – sure, he knew it involved electricity, but he’d never asked – nor wondered – before now.

Kaidoh shrugged, thinking about what Ohtori-kun had just said about heroes. It was true – he’d watched the same kinds of things when he was younger, but… “I dunno. I always thought it would be kind of hard, getting all that attention…” He’d never liked attention – he knew that quite well, and also knew well how he went out of his way to make people not notice him. Of course, that had all gone out the window when he’d started growing enough bone for at least two people…

"Yeah." He laughed and rubbed the back of his neck, a blush spreading rapidly. "It's sort of stupid, but it helps my family…well…helped them." He smiled nervously, "see when …I had a little….accident happen, my Dad told me he wanted me to find one good thing I could do with this. It was his way of getting me to leave my room I guess."

Looking back up from his revelry, he cocked his head again. "Well..the attention is sort of a down side I suppose. But I'd rather be loved than feared. Or even tolerated." He frowned, "I'd even settle for being useful. I can't even get a normal job or anything if I wanted, I am of no use to anyone."

Kaidoh blinked, trying to picture the optimistic boy in front of him refusing to leave his room. He was sure that Ohtori-kun was probably good at a lot of things, regardless of their connection with electricity – he seemed like the sort of person who’d been pretty content with things before his mutation had surfaced.

“Guess I’m just used to being feared,” was all he could say in response, thinking of all the times people had shrunk away from him because of his menacing appearance – and that had been before his mutation had begun making his life miserable. “And I can’t think of anything useful I can do with this, anyway.” He flopped down on the bed – albeit carefully – and stared at the backs of his hands with something akin to dismay. “You could do tons of things, I bet.”

Waiting for the other boy to lay down, he got up and walked over to the side of the bed and leaned over him, smiling faintly. "Hate to break it to you, mutation or not…you don't frighten me at all." He poked his nose playfully and laughed. "Besides, you aren't a bad person at all, so there would never be a reason for anyone in their right mind to be afraid of you."

Moving swiftly back to his own cot, he laid down too, thinking perhaps that would be more comfortable. He could easily catch up on studying. "I'm sure that you'll come up with something useful, even really great, I bet." He frowned at his friend's motions and frown and sighed. "I could if I wasn't so afraid to try."

Kaidoh was glad that Ohtori-kun had gone over to his own cot and laid down – because now he was sure he was blushing furiously. He just didn’t… understand the other boy, and also didn’t understand the part of himself that didn’t mind that fact. Everyone at his old school had been afraid of him – that, or just thought he was too unsociable to bother dealing with at all. And he’d thought that suited him just fine. But now…

“I – I’m sure you’ll find lots of things you can do,” he stammered, turning over (carefully, again, so as not to accidentally rip the other boys sheets – that would be just perfect) and facing the wall so his blush wouldn’t be so visible. “That’s what we’re here for.”

He smiled and got comfortable, placing a thin arm over his eyes and just breathing. Sometimes he had to wonder if the electricity made him restless, or if all teenagers felt trapped by their own limits. Maybe that was some part of his humanity that society hadn't stripped, wouldn't that be wonderful?

"Maybe so. Frankly, even if I do find things, I don't think I'd want to use them." He removed his arm and stared at the white ceiling covered with a few small singe marks from his first few days, and the constant lightbulb explosions. "I hope that's what we are here for. Maybe Kamio was right and there's something else happening here."

“Don’t think I’d find anything I wanted to use either,” Kaidoh remarked, then thought about the last part of Ohtori-kun’s statement. He hadn’t… well, he hadn’t really liked Kamio-kun all that much. Something about him just rubbed Kaidoh the wrong way; he couldn’t put his finger on it, but he did know that it was likely to take some convincing before he trusted anything the boy said outright.

“Well, whatever’s going on here, we’re stuck for the moment,” he decided out loud, then closed his eyes, welcoming the darkness. He let out a small sigh, still feeling his cheeks burning with residual embarrassment. “Think I’m gonna take a nap.” He hoped Ohtori-kun wouldn't mind – he didn't want his makeshift roommate to think he was being antisocial (wait, what? Since when did he care if he seemed antisocial or not?), but he was getting tired from all the tests, and sleep was sounding better and better.

"Never know." He smiled over at him and nodded. "You looked tired, I think I might take a nap too. Maybe I can try and figure this all out better with some fresh insight." With that, he rolled on his side, facing away from his room mate. "Sleep well, Kaidoh-san…"

“Hn,” Kaidoh sighed, already feeling himself fall into sleep. “You too, I guess…”