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Entry tags:

[Closed]

Who: Kanji [

cuteshit] & Souji [

eatsyourscience]
Where: Souji's room (for once, not the diner)
When: June 30
Rating: PG? Because Kanji cusses sometimes
Summary: Souji needs some assistance with research
The Story:
Awhile back, Souji had talked to Princess Bubblegum about the memories Wonderland has stolen from him. There seem to be so many--and in most cases, he has no idea what he's lost. After thinking about what his events actually were, he knows he's going to need help figuring out which words he can't remember.

Luckily, there's a Kanji for that. It's not that Souji wasn't happy to have Kanji in Wonderland--he was pretty ecstatic, actually, though it would have been hard to tell. But this really makes him appreciate having someone from home, especially someone from the investigation team.

He'd asked Kanji to come by his room sometime soon to help him with a project. He hadn't been too specific about what the project would entail--it would be easier to explain when they actually met up--but did mention it was about the events from their world. Souji thought that, if they managed to get through what he was hoping to accomplish, they might brainstorm about what other events might come from their world. It would be helpful to have some ideas about what might be coming.

After figuring out when to meet up, Souji makes sure he's actually there when the time comes. The room is almost identical to his room at his uncle's house, with the exception of the small, but fat gray dragon that's napping on his couch. He's sitting on the floor in front of the couch, folding some paper into origami butterflies--he's trying to branch out from cranes--with his back against the front of the couch and the dragon's sleeping breath occasionally ruffling his hair. On the table in front of him is a notebook and pen, along with a few snacks, just in case.

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The word 'project' had been enough to catch his interest, though even if it hadn't, there was no chance that when Souji asking him for help with anything, he'd have said no. Souji had helped him in ways he hadn't even realized he'd needed, and that meant that as far as he was concerned, he was pledged to lend a hand whenever his friend needed it.

Regardless, project very vaguely suggests something that might be in line with his particular interests. Wishful thinking, probably, but a small part of him hopes.

"Hey, senpai!"

He does knock when he shows up, but he doesn't wait for an invitation before opening the door for himself, finding Souji seated on the floor near his-- well, Kanji's still not sure what his pet is, but he hasn't had the guts to come right out and ask. He's pretty positive it's not a cat with a skin condition, as had been his first though. Being here, though? It's like stepping right back into Inaba, and Kanji can't fault him for wanting to recreate something from home here. He'd done the same thing with his own room.

"Whoa, butterflies." He approves.

Unfortunately for Kanji, it's not quite the kind of project he's hoping for. On the other hand, Souji wouldn't mind a project like that after they finish, though unless it involves folding paper, Kanji's going to kick his ass at it.

When Kanji comes in, Souji gives him a wave that's half greeting and half invitation to take a seat at the table. He completes the butterfly in his hand and sets it aside.

"I'm going to try foxes next time." He has a particular attachment to foxes. Not quite as much as to cats, but it's a close second.

He slides the notebook and pen across the table to Kanji.

"I need your help with something."

Though he doesn't give it much thought, it does occur to him that he's not usually the one asking for help.

He sits down without needing to be told twice, plopping down heavily opposite Souji, giving an awed sort of smile as he very carefully picks up one of the completed butterflies and turns it over in his hands, just to get a better look.

"These are really somethin'. Long way from cranes. Bet your foxes'll be real good, too."

But he's not here to talk about origami, he guesses, and Souji only confirms that as he nudges the notebook a little closer. Kanji gingerly sets the crane back down, giving his senpai a curious look as he picks up the pen he'd been offered.

"You're serious? You really need my help?"

Souji nods.

"There have been a bunch of events from our world and each time I lost a memory. Like...a specific word or phrase, I think. Something related to the event."

He rests his elbow on the edge of the table and rests his chin on his hand, indicating the notebook with his free hand.

"If I can describe the events, do you think you can help me figure out what I can't remember?"

It's not as straightforward as he makes it sound, and his explanation isn't entirely straightforward to begin with.

He frowns, brow furrowed, but he slowly nods as he agrees to the request, not entirely sure he understands how they'll get from point A to point B-- but he'll do his best. If nothing else, he's no quitter.

"Alright," he says gamely, positioning the notebook in front of him. "Might be kinda tricky, but I'll see if I can help you figure it out. So the things you forget-- they're supposed to be connected to the events themselves, right?"

Souji nods again and looks at his free hand, ticking something off on his fingers.

"There have been...six events since I got here that I know for sure were from my memory."

He pauses, wondering if he should start from the beginning or with those for which he knows he forgot something. He's honestly not all that sanguine about how this is going to turn out, either, but he's determined to try.

He decides on the latter.

"In one, we spent a weekend at the Amagi Inn. There wasn't much else to it. But I know I forgot something. I...couldn't say what it was, but I knew I should know it."

His forehead creases further as he mulls that over-- six. Six is a lot of memories to have missing, if Wonderland really took one every time, and he taps the end of his pen against the open page of the notebook a few times as he considers.

"Alright, so-- Amagi Inn. You had to have forgotten something about the inn. You remember Yukiko, 'cause you've said her name since I got here," Kanji reasons aloud, although his speech slowly slightly as he turns the thought over and over. Souji can probably see the wheels turning as he sits across from him. "And you remember the inn itself. Maybe-- the hot springs?"

The word registers with Souji, so he shakes his head. "It's something I didn't normally see at home, though. Something specific to the time we were there."

Which could rule out a whole lot of things, but leaves quite a few still to sift through. He tries to think of things that they would have encountered there.

"I remember the hot springs, and the room we stayed in. ....And Kashiwagi-sensei, and Hanako...."

Actually, he wouldn't mind if he'd forgotten that part of the visit to the inn.

Edited 2016-07-06 05:17 (UTC)

He frowns further. Something that was specific to the inn, that he wouldn't normally see elsewhere? For some, that might make things a hell of a lot easier, but it makes things tougher for Kanji, as evidenced by how furrowed his brow has become by degrees.

"I'd be okay forgetting those," Kanji confesses, unknowingly echoing Souji's own thoughts. "What about-- ghosts? We thought there was a ghost, but-- there wasn't, I guess, so that can't be it."

Souji nods in agreement. "No, not that."

He sits for a moment without speaking, frowning, but not as much as Kanji, as he goes through everything in the inn one item at a time. Several he can cross off immediately, because he had them at his uncle's house as well: futons, tatami...

He remembers the buckets the girls threw at them, how they'd gone back to their room and put on--

Put on what?

His eyes widen and then snap up to look at Kanji.

"The-- Uh, the..." He straightens up, miming pulling a yukata around his chest to tie it off. "The robe...thing. That you put on after the hot spring."

Not that they'd actually gotten into the hot spring in the first place.

Edited 2016-07-07 23:50 (UTC)

Kanji smacks the table hard with one hand as he has a very forced 'eureka' moment, lighting up as Souji's clues describe what's missing.

"A yukata!" he bursts out, looking to Souji for confirmation. "That's it, ain't it?"

Souji looks at him blankly when he says whatever that word was. It slips right through his mind when Kanji says it, like it was distorted by radio static or simply censored out of the sentence with silence.

"...Yeah, I guess it is." His voice has an underlying hint of alarm to it; though he knew he couldn't say the word in question, he'd never experienced the inability to hear it being said.

He points to the notebook. "Can you write it down? Write down which event it was, too."

It's hopeless, he knows, but he wants to try to read the word. He also just wants a record of it, in case anyone else from home shows up, or so he can show anyone who's trying to research what's going on.

He frowns again, the fact that the word seems to have gone through one ear and out the other somewhat troubling in and of itself. If you forgot something, did Wonderland not even let you hear it anymore? He nods, quickly scribbling down the word yukata before adding a dash followed by Amagi Inn.

"There," he says, turning the notebook around and nudging it across the table. "How's that? Can you read it?" Or does the word come up blank when he looks at it, too?

Souji pulls the notebook closer and shakes his head. He sees the - Amagi Inn clearly, and he knows something comes before it. But when he tries to look at it, his gaze seems to slide away, like trying to balance a soccer ball on top of another soccer ball.

Pushing the notebook back over to Kanji, he decides to move on. He doesn't really want to think about the implications of this kind of memory loss, if he's honest with himself. Not right now, anyway.

"There's another one that I know I lost something important from."

Of course, he'd lost something from each of them, but in most cases, the word wasn't one he used often enough to notice it was gone. With this one, though, it had been obvious, just like the last one.

Having the notebook handed back without comment makes him from, makes him wonder what Souji must have seen on the page that didn't agree with him, but Kanji swallows it down and nods, grabbing the pen a second time.

"Alright," he says evenly, "So what was that event about?"

"It's a little hard to explain, since it was a mixture of my memories and someone else's."

Now that he thinks about it, there hasn't been an event like that in awhile. It makes him wonder if he should be expecting one soon.

"The part I know was from me was the rain and the fog. And the TV that would turn on when it got to a certain time of night and show someone..."

It's clear that he knows what he's talking about, and that he knows it's really, really important to him. A rare expression of frustration crosses his face and he rests his forehead against his palm, elbow on the surface of the table again.

"I couldn't remember it at the time, either. I didn't know what to call it when anyone asked."

That one clicks easily, even if the event itself sounds a little muddled. The words come to Kanji without his having to search for them, and he quickly scribbles it down beside the brief description of the event -- rain and fog -- pressing his lips together into a thin line.

"That's gotta be the Midnight Channel," he points out, looking up to see if it registers with Souji at all, curious. "Practically set our watches by that thing."

Like the word "yukata," the phrase slides right past Souji, and it's just as confusing and disturbing as the first time. But he knows what Kanji is talking about and he knows what it meant to them.

He nods, lifting his head from his hand. He really shouldn't act like this in front of Kanji. He's aware that, in a lot of situations, he's the barometer for the mood among his friends, and he's learned to regulate that fairly well. Though he's sure it's inevitable to some degree, it's his responsibility to keep things calm and and under control with Kanji.

"That must be it." He glances away for a moment, thinking, then looks back at the notebook in front of Kanji. "Hm...write down 'fog and TVs' I guess. I'll know what those refer to, at least."

He nods, a frown tugging at one corner of his mouth as he writes the words, pausing with his pen hovering above the paper for a moment afterwards. Should he include 'Midnight Channel' too, or will that just make Souji feel worse about what he's forgotten?

He decides against it, for now. Souji has always seemed so collected and in-control, a perfect candidate for a leader, but Kanji can tell how much this is bothering him. He can't blame him in the least, but he also doesn't want to make it any worse than it already is.

"Alright. Got it," he confirms, giving Souji a grim look afterwards. "You think that-- you think after Wonderland takes things away, we can ever get 'em back?"

Shaking his head, Souji looks at the origami butterflies he's piled to the side. Letting out a breath as he gathers himself.

"I don't know. I hope we can--it seems like we'd have to if we go back home."

Naoto had come from before Christmas the last time she was here, and if she'd forgotten anything while she was here, she'd have to have remembered it when she got home or he's sure he'd have noticed.

"Makes sense, right? That we only forget as long as we're here?"

He's hopeful, at least. Unlike Souji, he doesn't have any evidence to support that thought, but it feels right. He wants to believe that's the way things are. This place is only temporary, and whatever it takes from them is the same.

"Can't imagine walkin' around Inaba not knowing what some of these things are."

In the same way as Kanji, Souji's banking on being right about that because it seems like the way it should be in order to keep the integrity of their own world intact, if nothing else. But then there's the question of how memories provide any lasting sustenance to Wonderland if they go away when the person who lost them leaves. Then again, maybe that's why things like the Jabberwocky exist in the first place....

Okay, enough of that line of thought, it's depressing.

Instead, he nods, trying to imagine wandering around town like that and have it be humorous instead of alarming or depressing.

"Most of the words are less obvious than those two were. I still don't have a clue what they might have been."

He pauses, picking at the surface of the table with his fingernail.

"One of the events was about the school camping trip."

It was pretty much the most benign event that could have possibly occurred.

Kanji's nose wrinkles automatically at the mention of the camping trip; his experiences there had been less than pleasant, although he's sure nobody had a good time that weekend.

"Ugh," he mutters aloud, "Mystery Food X. Glad I missed out on that one. Trying their cooking later on was bad enough."

"The food this time wasn't that bad. I--"

He started to speak before realizing what had just happened in Kanji's response. He sits up straighter, looking at Kanji intently.

"Wait. What did you say?"

"Uh," Kanji stalls out for a moment, frowning as he mentally backtracks. "Mystery Food X?"

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