[fieldbox="Koshi and Kaito Nagamine, grey, dashed, 10"]Fuck.
That was all Koshi could think before Hisao was upon him - and Kaito was grinning. This was just like... Wham. The first blow caught him in the mouth and he felt his lip split against his teeth and the fist. Immediately, blood ran down his chin, dribbled down and pattered against the floor like the rain pattered against the window in class. "Yamete... kudasai." (Stop, please). Koshi's arms weren't pinned down, but he didn't struggle - instead, it was as if he had inverted his attention within himself. He's had plenty of practice dealing with abuse. He dropped his head, and the second punch was an uppercut that only a football player could deliver - it caught him below the ribs and knocked the air out of his lungs so hard that Koshi cried out.
Stunned and in pain, he slipped and crumbled to his knees, wheezing, unable to breathe. It was like a switch was flipped all of a sudden - listening to his brother's rasping, Kaito thrust and arm out in front of Hisao to stop anymore attacks. "That's enough." Just then, he heard a crash and turned around to find that May had tackled Hisao.
Henry groaned - Kaito always stopped them when they knocked the air of Koshi like that. They could deliver a hundred blows to his face and Kaito wouldn't stop them, but as soon as the wind was knocked out of Koshi, Kaito would freak out. He didn't understand it. [/fieldbox]
[fieldbox="Hisao Tachibana, blue, dashed, 10"] "Why should I?" Hisao questioned as he glared at Koshi, before delivering that second punch. Given that he was also of Japanese descent, his parents had taught him and May Japanese. They had adopted her just in time when he was barely beginning his lessons. Hisao remembered asking his parents why they were making her learn Japanese, when she wasn't even Japanese. They had answered that they wanted her to feel like she belonged with them. Ever since then, he had tried so hard to make her feel like she was actually his sister by blood. It had honestly help May open up to them.
A loud thud was heard when he collapsed onto the ground with May and Hisao couldn't help but to clench his hands at his sides, until he caught sight of May's expression. She was disappointed, anger, and worst of all scared. Hisao felt his heart clench at the fear she held in her gaze. "What is wrong with you?" May questioned with narrowed eyes and Hisao just breathed out a sigh. "Just get to class, May." He murmured before standing up and looking over to Kaito.
"Let's go before the principal shows up."
[/fieldbox]
[fieldbox="Koshi and Kaito Nagamine, grey, dashed, 10"]Kaito had released Koshi at that point, leaving the male free to hide his face in his hands. Koshi slid down the wall, struggling to regain the ability to speak. Once he did, he breathed - "Yappari..." (I knew this would happen). "After all, you're just like-"
Kaito swooped down and grabbed Koshi by the neck again, immense wrath in his grey gaze as he yelled, "Kotoba ni ki wo tsukenasai!" (Watch your mouth!)
Henry, getting impatient with all the things he didn't understood said, "Enough with the Japanese! I can't understand shit." He crossed his arms over his chest and huffed impatiently. Kaito stood back up to full height and turned to the group behind him. "Hisao's right. We'll get him later, come on." And he started walking away, leaving Koshi on the ground, muttering, "Doshiyo doshiyo doshiyo..." (What do I do?) Over-and-over again, like a mantra as he repeatedly tried and failed to compose himself.[/fieldbox]
[fieldbox="May Tachibana, green, dashed, 10"] May watched in irritation as her brother, along with his cronies, walked away down the hall. Things had went from zero to a hundred in seconds and it frankly angered her that they picked on Koshi. Not only that, but Hisao had punched the male and his own twin hadn't even intervened until Koshi was out of breath.
"Koshi!" May called out to him, when she was distracted from her thoughts by him muttering the same words over and over. Crawling over to him, she placed her hands on his shoulders. "(Are you okay?)" She questioned as she took in his split tongue, that was still bleeding. "(I'm sorry you had to go through that.)"
[/fieldbox]
[fieldbox="Koshi Nagamine, lightcyan, dashed, 10"]He stopped when May was suddenly clutching him by the shoulders, and he looked up, blood still running down his chin from the wounded lip. "(I'm fine. I'll be alright.)" He didn't sound fine.
Suddenly, one of his eyebrows shot up. "(You know this language? That's surprising.)"
Really, who was Hisao to May? Did she learn Japanese for his sake? Or did she gather it from hearing Kaito and Hisao speak?
Suddenly, the bell rang and Koshi slowly got up and wrapped an arm around his ribs. Ah, that punch really hurt, and it still hurt. He's had worse though, he's gone through things that were incomparable to this. "I'll just... Wipe this off." He mumbled, and pulled his backpack off of his shoulder.
Koshi crouched down and dug around in it, then opened the pocket with his cigarettes, and that was where he found the small packet of tissues he kept with him. He pulled one out and swung the backpack over his shoulder again, then pressed the edge of the napkin to his lip, but the blood had already gone down his chin and he failed to wipe it all up.[/fieldbox]
[fieldbox="May Tachibana, green, dashed, 10"] Koshi said he was fine, however his appearance with that expression made it evident that he was far from it. There was no way they could go to class with him in this state.
"(Yeah, I do.)" May was already accustomed to everyone's surprised reaction when she spoke Japanese. It was as if she had uncovered the answer to some unanswered question.
"You smoke?" May pursed her lips slightly, not exactly fond of the idea of him smoking. Cigarettes messed with your health, especially your lungs. It was a faster way, in her opinion, for someone to gain illnesses. "Here come on. Let's go to the nurse. You can't go to class like that." May said as she placed a hand on his shoulder. "(Your lips is still bleeding. Here let me clean it.)" Taking ahold of the tissue, she wiped the blood away before dabbing his lips.
[/fieldbox]
[fieldbox="Koshi Nagamine, lightcyan, dashed, 10"]At her question, Koshi shyly glanced away. "Only sometimes." He knew how bad it was for him, but they were... keeping him afloat.
They helped. They reminded him of home before it all fell apart.
Koshi quickly shook his head no when she suggested going to the nurse's office. "No way. I'm fine... I think I can go to class." Especially since it was chorus, and singing... Singing sounded really good right now. He needed to sing.
She touched his shoulders again, and he flinched and pulled away from her even as she tried to wipe his face. Something strange appeared in his grey eyes all of a sudden - something that make him look like a frightened animal. "(Don't touch me...)" He whispered, staring at the ground with a faraway gaze. Reliving the past with every brush of skin was hard.
"(... I'm sorry)." His frightened gaze softened, "(Let me walk you to class)." Koshi reached up and wiped the rest of the blood away with the back of his hand. He glanced down for a moment - the red on the back of his hand contrasted to strongly with his skin it frightened him - when had he gone so pale? When she had touched him? He walked towards the end of the hall.[/fieldbox]
[fieldbox="May Tachibana, green, dashed, 10"] Koshi's refusal to go to the nurse's office made her worry increase, since droplets of blood still dribbled down his chin. Hisao had gone too far and she would make sure to let him know that when she got home. There was no valid reason for them to beat him like that or bully him. Had they no conscious? What if something worse would have happened to him than just a split lip? Ma and Pa would not be happy with this.
He suddenly flinched away from her, causing for her gaze to sadden. "Gomenasai." She apologized as her gaze lowered before she followed after him. She honestly felt horrible for the actions her brother had committed against the male. "(I'm sorry for what Hisao did to you. I'm going to have a talk with him about this later.)" May stated quietly as they turned the corner, the door to Art Class all the way at the end of the hall.
[/fieldbox]
[fieldbox="Koshi Nagamine, lightcyan, dashed, 10"]"(N-no, don't do that. It'll make it worse May-chan)." Koshi quickly said as they approached the art room. "(You wont change his mind, I don't think anything will)." He said, and stopped in front of the door.
Tons of paintings, charcoal drawings, and sketches lined the walls surrounding the door in a mess of colors. Koshi appreciated art greatly, but his minimal tastes found the display a bit... Unkempt. He could see that the light inside of the the room was off, so he pulled the door open, curious about what was going on.
Nobody was inside. "Um... Either your class was taken to another dimension by a paper doll," he said - referencing Corpse Party, "- Or it's cancelled. I think the latter is more likely."
He closed the door and turned to her with an eager smile. "Wanna come to my class instead?"[/fieldbox]
[fieldbox="May Tachibana, green, dashed, 10"] "(But...It isn't right what they're doing to you! You don't deserve that.)" May honestly didn't know what to do. She wanted to have a talk with Hisao, yet what if Koshi was right? What if she made things worse? Then again, she was sure that they were going to have a talk anayways and she already knew how Hisao was going to react when they got home. Ma and Pa didn't get home until 3:45, so they would have thirty minutes to argue and sort this thing out.
Her gaze landed on he drawings and paintings adorning the wall around the door. A couple of her own were among the collage, but she didn't bother to point that out given that he pulled the door open and no one was inside. "I guess you're right." She peeked inside briefly, before stepping back. "Sure. Your teacher won't say anything?"
[/fieldbox]
[fieldbox="Koshi Nagamine, lightcyan, dashed, 10"]"Nah, the one time I went there before to give the teacher a slip to sign for my transfer... Well, the class is really relaxed. The teacher is a really cool lady that doesn't really seem to care about anything - people were talking, playing instruments... It was fine." He said, and began to walk to the left of the door. The center of where two hallways met were a set of two large doors leading into the auditorium.
Koshi eagerly pushed the heavy wood open and stepped into the massive chamber. The light were dimmed over the two-hundred or more empty seats, and at the back of the whole area, set slightly lower than the chairs in a descending slope, was the massive stage.
As soon as he stepped towards the path that would lead him down, the teached called out, "Keishi! You're late! Oh cool, you brough a friend! She's welcome to stay." Koshi grinned, "See? I told you."
The air in the auditorium was considerably cooler than the air in the hallways. Koshi was glad that he had a jacket with him.
"No no no, you're not sitting down mister! We have to place you for a vocal range. Come up here and audition." The red-haired woman gestered to him, and Koshi glanced at May.
He was obviously nervous. "Oh boy... I thought that if I was lucky she might forget. I'm trying to be a Countertenor - the highest male vocal range. I dunno how this might turn out..." Koshi gulped, and moved towards the stage before the teacher could yell at him again.
He climbed the stairs and looked out at the two rows of studens sitting right below him. He was shaking - suffering stage fright, but the prospect of singing won out against his shyness.
"You gave me a list of songs, and I picked the one with the highest vocal range out of all of them... Just to be mean. Let's see what you can do." The teached picked up a guitar and strummed down the strings to check if it was still in tune.
[fieldbox="May Tachibana, green, dashed, 10"] May was a bit hesitant, given that some of the teachers on this campus were strict and uptight, but he said that she was a cool lady. So she took his word and followed him inside.
Immediately when the woman spotted them, she greeted them and surprisingly she let her stay. No question, no nothing. May could only smile in response to Koshi's words, before following him up. "You'll do fine. Remember, confidence." May told him before he made his way up to the stage and she took a seat behind the class about two rows back. While Koshi and the teacher prepared, the class conversed among each other, not all that interested with what was going on, on stage.
It wasn't until the teacher started strumming out and Koshi sang the first note-which was high and clean-did everyone stop talking and looked up at him. May was honestly surprised at the talent this male had hidden. Throughout the whole song he was singing high notes and he was honestly killing it. Everything sounded so amazing.
By the time he ended the song, everyone had been stunned into silence, but May was quick to react. She shot up to her feet and began to clap loudly, a huge smile on her lips. A few others began to clap, but some people murmured to each other, realizing that this was Koshi. An outcast that must never accepted, so their claps ceased and May's brows furrowed in annoyance. "What a dry crowd! You did excellent Koshi!" May gave him two thumbs up.
[/fieldbox]
[fieldbox="Koshi Nagamine, lightcyan, dashed, 10"]He had his head up like a baying wolf the entire song - a contrast from how often it was tilted down to meet the ground.
He only opened his eyes when the whole thing was over and he had sang his heart out. May caught him off-guard, and he smiled at her until the clapping stopped and Koshi looked back down at the crowd to see disregard and attempted indifference.
The teacher scoffed, "I know right? Definitely tenor to countertenor range. Actually, I think you'll be this school's first countertenor. What an honor! Did you have a vocal coach?"
"I had a teacher for some time..." Koshi said shyly, and quickly climbed off the stage to go sit beside May.
"Cool. So now that everyone's assigned, we can start leaning to sing..." Koshi ignored the rest of what she said, because wow May was close to him, sitting in that seat, and he was strangely ok with it.
"Wow, that was nerve-wrecking..." He said, hands still shaking from the stress.[/fieldbox]
[fieldbox="May Tachibana, green, dashed, 10"] May resumed her seat when the teacher asked Koshi a questioned, before he made his way down the stage. "You did amazing!" May said and it was then that she noticed his hands were shaking. Deciding to help him calm down, she grabbed his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "Hey, don't worry about it. I'm pretty sure you did better than any of these dumb asses combined." May said while gesturing to the rest of the class with a tilt of her head.
"And you got the part that you were going for." May was rather excited for him. He had done exceptionally well and he deserved much more than these people's weak ass claps.
"Have you considered singing as a career option?" May questioned as she looked at him. "Because I'm sure you could make it, with that heavenly voice of yours."
[/fieldbox]
[fieldbox="Koshi, lightcyan, dashed, 10"]Koshi smiled in thanks, feeling grateful not for what silly thing had been accomplished, but rather that he knew such a nice person to share them with. He thought about telling her, then didn't when he realized how overly-sentimental he might sound. The gratitude was still clear in his eyes... Until she grabbed his hands.
Whatever warmth his gaze held perished into that strange fear again, and Koshi tore his hands out of her grasp like she had burned him.
A moment after the strange rejection, Koshi cleared his throat awkwardly and said, "Sorry..." Under his breath before switching back to respond to her earlier question. "Eh, it's just... It think that's a better hobby than a career. I'm way too shy to sing in fron a whole stadium of people."[/fieldbox]
[fieldbox="May Tachibana, green, dashed, 10"] Koshi suddenly yanked his hand away from her grasp, leaving her to stare down at her hand, a little upset that he had rejected her comfort. Slowly, she pulled the hand back closer to her and rested it on her lap, along with her other hand while she fiddled with her fingers. "It's okay." She whispered, before she recovered from his actions and she turned her head to give a small smile. "Too shy? Well, maybe you should do small gigs or something. It could be a start." May suggested as she looked up at him.
May figures that she would need to let Koshi come on his own, because if she pushed him with her sudden touches like that, then she would surely scare him away.
"(What do you want to do as your main career then, if it's not singing?)"
[/fieldbox]
[fieldbox="Koshi, lightcyan, dashed, 10"]It made him feel so terribly guilty - his aversion to touch. He knew she wouldn't hurt him, he knew he should be a man - tough, fearless...
... He was so, very weak.
Koshi wrapped his arms around himself and cupped his elbows, casting his grey gaze away from her - to the left. Somehow, he looked like he felt guilty about it.
"(I have no idea... I really don't.)" He said, honestly too hesitant about the future to make any plans. Koshi felt sick when he realized that the only thing he had done regarding his future was make a suicide note. It was funny, and sad, so terribly sad.
Changing the subject, he turned his stoney gaze to May and asked, "(How about you?)"[/fieldbox]
[fieldbox="May Tachibana, green, dashed, 10"] May couldn't help but to wonder if Hisao and Kaito caused him to be like this. Mistrusting, shy, and just scared of people. The fear he held in his gaze when she had gripped his hand had honestly caused for heart to clench and she wanted nothing more than to wrap her arms around, but that would be imprudent.
"(It's okay...)" she whispered trying to ease his worry over how he had rejected her touch. "(Well I think that's alright. I mean it's obvious that you won't have your whole planned out right now.)" May answered as she glanced up to the stage, to see a group making their way up there.
"I want to do something involving art, maybe even architecture...I'm not sure." She answered.
"My parents want me to do something big like engineering or architecture, so I could be economically stable and have a good life, you know. But...I also want to do something I want." May had been struggling with that conflict for a while now. She wanted to please them, given all that they've done for her but...well, she also wanted to do something that would make her happy.
[/fieldbox]
[fieldbox="Koshi, lightcyan, dashed, 10"]Koshi smiled at her. "That's cool though. Architecture, I mean. My mom wants me to be lawyer, or a businessman." He stared at the stage as well. Somebody passed their row - the teacher demanded 'atmosphere,' so he shut off the lights overhead, leaving only the stage lights visible. The groups before them was baritone, or lower range,and the most common vocal type - tenor, clambered up to the stage next to begin rehearsing. Kosh wondered what he would do - being the only countertenor.
He was alone in his range, and Koshi decided that... it suited him.
He turned to May again, seriousness in his gaze. "May, don't do something that wont make you happy. It wont be worth it in the long run." And then, without explaining his thoughts he turned back to the stage, feeling his lip ache as he felt his pulse picked up when his eyes met her's in the dark.[/fieldbox]
[fieldbox="May Tachibana, green, dashed, 10"] "Really? Is that something you would like to do?" May questioned as her gaze followed the people who were on the stage, the teacher giving them instructions.
His sudden serious caught her off guard, resulting in her starring up at him for a few seconds. "I know, but I also want to make my parents proud." There were various reasons why she wanted to make them happy. Gratitude for one. And she knew that she would follow through with what they want just to make them happy.
"I don't know... I still have a few months to decide. So...How does this singing thing work with the whole tenor, countertenor?"
[/fieldbox]
