it's not unusual.

[looseleaves]

WHO: Hajime + OPEN
WHERE: Various!
WHEN: January.
WHAT: Usual catchall stuff. Please ask for a specific prompt if you'd like one, I'm all ears for new and old CR!
WARNINGS: None applicable.

i

[ It's a surprisingly rowdy day at the park--lots of dogs and people bustling to and from both ends of the park. It'd be a perfect time to perform, but Hajime is as silent as he's always been through December. At least the fact that he's quite clearly working on something, papers in his lap, is making sure he's not bothered... the soothing sound of the fountain behind him is enough to keep his mind on task. He hears a clamor and raises his head, just in time to see someone be knocked over by an overzealous child with a huge dog, straight into him--and the fountain. ]

W-wagh!

[ He manages to get to his feet and reach out for the poor victim, but it doesn't help--both crash into the water. ]

ii

[ He's back to recording sessions pretty quickly, which means he has to take some days off of school. Hajime's just treating himself to a drink after a session, late in the afternoon... when someone sidles up beside him, too close. They're a fan.

(Oh jeez. He thought he'd have more time than this!)

They're very intense--wondering just why he's been saving his voice all this time, can they have a picture, they love the lullabies he's posted on his Instagraham... all of that. Hajime is trying his best to be on his best behavior and not be rude, but it's increasingly uncomfortable with the way they shamelessly drape over him, and he's kind of too tiny.

Some brave soul would be appreciated. ]

bonus (closed to freyja)

[ Used to be, he volunteered a lot at the hospital. Now that he's at school, though... that's not entirely possible. He has to rush over to the hospital to volunteer when he does, changing into the usual volunteer uniform and heading back out with his hair tied back. There's a good moment of pause as he hears singing of all things, though... and he backs up a few steps as he peers into the room, tilting his head as he listens. ]

Comments

~BONUS~

[livesfastdiesung]

[Freyja doesn't notice Hajime right away, not really. She's with a patient, after all, and she's devoting her entire attention to said patient. She's not even facing him, her back to the door, though for some reason it looks like there are... pink sparkles? Kinda weird. Oh well. The patient is, at least, drifting off to sleep due to the song.]

My own story begins as I wake up, This morning feels different, and I rub my eyes... Ready to fire! Three, two, onepiece, flying as I spin. My engine is now in extreme speed, Then we crash on a galactic scale, a rush of deculture! All power starboard, I'm setting you on fire... Feel it? Diving! There's no turning back now. SOS, the signal's on fire, love is changing the world....

[There's a sigh of contentment, at least, when she realizes that the patient's so relaxed. It's exactly what she wanted to do, not that there was even much she was allowed to do otherwise to begin with.]

[looseleaves]

[ There's a soft laugh behind her when she pauses, gentle applause that he knows won't wake the patient. That's... strange. It feels like some sort of weird deja vu? He did this, a few months ago... he helped people, like she was. Back when he wasn't more afraid of his voice, anyway. ]

Ne, your voice is really beautiful.

[livesfastdiesung]

[She's not as startled as she could be. In fact, whatever was sparkling seems to perk up more (and the fact that it's something weird and not actually hair is visible). She spins around in her chair, taking in Hajime.]

You think so? Huhuhu. [What a weird giggle, even if she's trying to keep it quiet because of the patient.] Thank you!

[looseleaves]

W--

[ Hajime lifts a hand to clap it where her rune is on her head, blinking owlishly at her now. ]

Ah... y-you're welcome? You're another volunteer... I'm Hajime Shino, nice to meet you.

(closed to erik)

[looseleaves]

[ As always, Hajime always brings some snacks when he comes over to... er, 'tutor'? It feels wrong to call it that when Erik is an adult, but saying he's teaching feels worse. He'd rather call himself a pocket dictionary when it comes to teaching Erik Japanese; while he's obviously a native speaker and well-versed in his own language, it's difficult to teach with the translator in the way. He does the best he can, though.

Admittedly, December hadn't been easy. With his own flagging confidence, he'd found it hard to teach at all. January is better... ish.

Hajime knocks as always, having sent a text before, but too polite to barge in. ]

Re: (closed to erik)

[incogneto]

[ Their lessons have been paused now and for many reasons, but after calling Hajime with a request to resume, Erik was elated to be able to schedule something so soon. As always, the door swings open for him automatically, even as Erik is making his way from wherever he is on the other side of the house. ]

Hello again!

[ He greets Hajime in Japanese, as he always does, his pronunciation markedly improved from before. ]

Happy New Year. Have you been well? Come in, please, I'll make tea.

[ OoC; I imagine he's using Hajime's name in lieu of pronouns but I don't know which honorific he'd use and it felt weird to drop them in the middle of italics for Erik specifically so IDK HANDWAVE ]

[looseleaves]

[ ooc: Totally okay! I'll be omitting them since they're implied anyhow for Hajime. ]

[ He steps in, a smile coming to his face. ]

Hello! Happy New Year...

[ His smile falters a little, if only because he hasn't... exactly been well, but... ]

Mm, I'm getting better, I think! Thank you... I brought snacks. There's sweet and savory, so I hope you'll like them. You're really getting better! How is the new year treating you?

[incogneto]

It's been great, my daughter finally came home.

Thank you, let me just take them to the kitchen!

Were you ...unwell?

[ He asks, though there's a pause as he forgets the word for sick ]

i

[cognitivism]

[ It must have been luck he happened to be walking by. Goro should have been surprised that the fountain was still running, and yet? He knew it was likely some oversight or another. He steps over, wondering how on Earth he was going to help Hajime with getting out of we clothing -- but he'd deal with that a little later.

With a pleasant smile, he offers his hand. ]

Are you all right? Here let me help.

[ He's just going to casually ignore the fact he stumbled into his dreams. It's not like he'll recognize him....he hoped. ]

[looseleaves]

Nnnn...

[ The water is freezing. It's hard not to just stay still in hopes that the chill will somehow ignore him if he just doesn't breathe. His slight whine drops off after a moment, knowing that he can't exactly help anyone if he's just stiff like this, but he hears a voice and finally opens his eyes to look up.

If Hajime recognizes Goro, it's not obvious. He blinks at the other boy before reaching for his hand, pink touching his cheeks at the embarrassing situation he's caught himself in. He makes a quick look around, just to make sure there's no one taking photos or something like that. ]

Th--thank you...

[ The previous victim is already on their feet, spilling out apologies and fretting, but Hajime has his practiced smile despite freezing. ]

A-ah, it's alright, it's alright... you're okay...? I'm glad you weren't hurt. ♪ You should change out of those quick...

[ He turns back to Goro with the same smile even if it's touched with concern, though he's rustling through his bag to take out a handkerchief. ] Sorry, I got you all wet, too...

[cognitivism]

Don't worry. It's nothing. [ He smiles, before he looks around. ] You are soaked, however. Why don't we find something for you to change into.

[ Besides, after dream walking he wanted to offer him an outlet. Being alone, in his own apartment with his thoughts as an idol was difficult. It was stifling, and he often wondered if having someone to talk to would ease his burdens. ]

Are you hurt at all?

[looseleaves]

--eh?

Ah, well, I don't...

[ His voice is softer now, unsure. At first, he just blinks and shifts in place--the moment he shifts his weight he winces, grimacing as he feels a scrape up the back of his knee. Oh, great... ]

Mm. Just a little. Um, you don't have to trouble yourself, it's alright...

two!!

[lempereur]

[ Brave? Or accidentally(?) abrasive? Best not to answer that, the important thing is Yusuke is here to rescue you. He's still terribly thin, but he's tall, with an ice cold glare that's intimidating enough to work with. ]

You're bothering him. You should leave, now.

[looseleaves]

[ Hajime doesn't notice Yusuke nearby, but even if he had, he probably wouldn't have tried to beckon the older teen over. His... acquaintance gets to his feet, looking put out, trying to glare back. He's definitely not as tall as Yusuke, but he dwarfs Hajime by quite a bit--likely why he hadn't been fighting back. ]

He doesn't seem bothered. Who're you, anyway?

Um--! Please... don't speak to my friend like that...

[ The stranger seems flabbergasted, looking from Hajime when he meekly protests to Yusuke, and then going deep red. ]

Oh, man, I'm sorry. I-I didn't know you were friends... I, uh...

[ He's... quite quick to bolt off in pure embarrassment, and Hajime droops in place for a moment or two. ]

Thank you, Kitagawa-kun.

[lempereur]

[ Yusuke keeps his glare up, quite ready to defend his friend further if need be, but the, ah, overly affectionate fan is on way. Good. The artist's features soften, and he sits down beside Hajime, taking the fan's spot, though not as uncomfortably close. ]

Are you alright? He seemed rather...handsy.

[looseleaves]

[ Hajime lifts his head when he hears Yusuke sitting down beside him, casting his tired eyes up to his friend. He lets out a silent sigh, pushing his bangs back and trying to smile. ]

Mm... he didn't hurt me, so I think I'm okay. I'm used to being with a friend so that doesn't happen too often...

2

[ghoulking]

[ kaneki is never assertive with his own fans, but he can be assertive with other people's, mostly because he sees someone uncomfortable and wishes to help. Specially if it's someone he knows.

As he spots Hajime, looking so uncomfortable and awkward, the ghoul approaches with a smile, reaching to tap at the fan's shoulder ] Hey- sorry, but I need to speak with hajime-kun for a bit. ImPort stuff, you understand.

[ they don't seem to understand, but they also don't want to engage Kaneki, at least, specially because he has that kind of smile that the more you look at it, more you realize it's not a kind one. So the person eventually leaves, now uncomfortable themselves and only after they are out of sight, Kaneki turns to Hajime ]

Are you alright?

[looseleaves]

[ He hears Kaneki before he sees him--the way his fan is sprawled over him, and with how much bigger the other guy is, it's hard to see past the broad shoulders. Hajime's ears are sharp, though: he knows Kaneki's voice already, and he relaxes a little when he hears him. Without prompting, he speaks quietly; ] Um--that's right... we need to talk, so... [ He's really thankful the guy left, and it shows in the way he relaxes fully this time, offering his friend a smile. ] Mm--just surprised... thank you, Kaneki-san.

[ghoulking]

Aha, some fans can be really pushy. I know it's hard to deal with them sometimes, but- [ hajime should learn to push away, really. ]

Does that happen often?

ii

[h2no]

[jeez, this again? archie decides he'll scare the shit out of the guy later. for now he just.

casually walks up. waves to haji. then goes to pick the guy up, just gonna try and peel him off the poor teen and hold him at arm's length.

stupid skinny fanboy.]

Excuse me?

[looseleaves]

[ SAVE HIM BIG BRO ;_; ]

Um--!

The fuck? Dude, get your hands off me! [ Said stupid skinny fanboy is trying to paw at Archie now, like he's tough shit. ]

[h2no]

[archie just dead eyes at the pawing. c'mon, dude.]

Yeah, it's not so nice is it? [he shakes the guy a little.] What is with you punks??

to: fourlevels

[looseleaves]

[ The problem with Hajime was simply this:

It was extremely hard to catch him out of schedule. He'd recently bought a dry-erase board to hang up in the kitchen, not just for his own sake but for jotting down anything from dinner to what they were missing from the fridge to their schedules. Hajime's marker was in bright blue and he always had at least three things written down each day (usually school/voice acting, volunteering, and practice) which meant that you were lucky to even see him most of the time. Granted, he always made room for lunch with Yuri when out of school and he liked to take part in cooking over the weekends, but after the year had begun, Hajime was just too busy to be at home most of the time.

He was also too busy to think which helped a lot.

But that's what made today so novel: sitting at the table in the middle of eating his post-jog breakfast, he'd gotten a call, so he was currently standing in the kitchen trying to keep his voice down... ]

... eh?

T-termites?! Um... so... ah, I suppose that means we have a long weekend...? It'll really take that long? ... mm, it must be really serious. I'll make sure to keep my phone by me in case... good luck! Goodbye ♪

[ He peers at his phone, humming to himself now as he tries to think... ]

Maybe I should go to school, then...?

[fourlevels]

[ Viktor comes into the kitchen to bring back his thermos bottle from his much-earlier breakfast he finished after his own workout, heading to the sink to rinse it out as he glances at Hajime. ]

Hmm? Did you get a call from the school or something?

[ Viktor you are the adult here maybe you should be concerned the kids in your home aren't going to school when they're supposed to?! (... Nah.) ]

[looseleaves]

[ Viktor is the best kind of parent. Hajime chances a glance at him, smiling sheepishly. ]

Ah, no~ the studio where I work has to be shut down for a few days... I was supposed to go and record some lines and the new ending song, but they said it's best to leave it for next week.

Usually I call out of school if I have to do work like that, since it can take the whole day sometimes.