(no subject)

[boxingemperor]

Characters: Akihiko and You (Open)
Setting: Cafeteria, Floors 22 and 25
Format: Whatever floats your boat
Summary: Akihiko's back from his dead world, getting back into the swing of tower life and a little unsure what to think about the experience.
Warnings: None at the moment

Cafeteria

There wasn't a lot of food to be found in the ruins of his world, and he's lost some weight from lack of nourishment. Most everything he ate was in a can or vacuum-sealed. Everything full of preservatives and cold.

It's fortunate that the cafeteria has a somewhat normal menu upon his return. It's not good for his regiment to eat so much, but letting go one time can't hurt, especially after what happened.

Hell, he can even tolerate the candy hearts that seem to have ended up into everything.

Floor 22

Akihiko's nothing of an art critic, but today the gallery catches his interest, as he catches a glance of a painting depicting children playing together in a room. There are two boys and a little girl in it, one boy and the girl with short, fair hair and the other dark brown. Their faces are turned away from the the viewer.

As he goes to leave, another work catches his eye. It consists of orange and red lengths of yarn glued in shapes to a collage of brick textures that look like they've been cut out of a home improvement catalog. In fact, closer examination of the cutouts shows white space from around the images, and their glossy feel is the same as magazine paper. It wouldn't be so horrific if the yarn hadn't been adhered to the canvas in the shape of flames. That and the piece kind of smells like smoke...

The art is so unsettling but he can't pull himself away just yet.

Floor 25

Nobody seems to be sleeping in the meadow, so Akihiko decides to do a few practice maneuvers here. It's the closest thing to a pleasant day outside he can get anymore.

He wouldn't be against someone wanting to join him, to spar or even just talk.

Comments

Floor 25

[speaks_dirty]

The meadow was actually a place that Siira had a tendency to frequent to practice her own skills. Dressed in her exercise clothes and a pair of sneakers, she had on her fingerless gloves and a bangle with several materia clipped into it. She had her suit jacket draped over her shoulders because of the snow that was falling, oh summons she hated the weather here, but didn't pull it all the way on since she'd be working up a sweat soon.

And then she spotted Akihiko. Silently, she just watched him as he went through his maneuvers. He was still just a kid, she had been around his age when the Turks recruited him.

[boxingemperor]

It doesn't take long for Akihiko to realize someone is there. The minute she makes any sort of sound, he looks over his shoulder to identify the visitor.

He's never seen her around before, but from the way she's dressed, they at least have something in common.

"Hope you don't mind me being here."

He continues throwing punches and jabs at a non-existent opponent.

[speaks_dirty]

"Nah, don't mind at all."

If she had made any effort at being quiet and unseen, she'd have observed without him knowing for awhile. Since this was the Tower though and she wasn't Turk-ing, Siira hadn't bothered. And if he was going to continue practicing, she was going to continue watching. The martial artist could stand to skip practicing once if only to see how someone else fought.

"Not bad."

[boxingemperor]

After receiving an answer from the woman, he doesn't bother her -- after all, she's there to exercise or train herself, right? -- until he's complimented. He hasn't received any constructive criticism here for a while on his performance.

"You know about boxing?"

[speaks_dirty]

"I do but I never focused on learning it. Martial arts was more my thing and it was better suited for where I grew up."

Down in the slums of Midgar, most people had relied purely on brutish strength. That's why she had survived, because she knew how to use that against them and things had only gotten better from their. Boxing wasn't brutish though, there was skill to it.

Floor 22

[tohko_amano]

Tohko normally didn't come up here, as she always saw at least one painting where a goblin-like monster got stoned, but..today, she was hoping that she would be able to face her fear if she encountered that painting. It wouldn't be anything close to the real thing..but it would be similar.

As she walked around though, she noticed a boy looking at a..weird painting. Curious, Tohko walked closer to it, trying to get a better look. It looked like something out of a magazine catalog.

"Good morning..are you enjoying the paintings?"

[boxingemperor]

Akihiko jumps a little, not expecting another person to be there. His composure is quickly regained, though. The girl doesn't look dangerous.

"Well, they are interesting. I don't think I like this one, though."

[tohko_amano]

At that, Tohko looked a little puzzled. Sure, it wasn't much of a painting, but there was nothing about it to make a person hate it.

Or so she thought.

"How come? Does it bring back bad memories or something?"

[boxingemperor]

"Yeah. The orphanage I lived in as a child burned down in a fire."

And this collage looks exactly like a childish rendering of it.

Cafeteria

[canthaveme]

So apparently oatmeal is important here? At any rate, Kurt is slumped at one of the tables, abandoning his usual impeccable posture in order to fully communicate through body language how put-upon he is, having to choke this stuff down. He doesn't notice if there's anyone else there, lost in a reverie of oatmealish resentment.

[boxingemperor]

Akihiko doesn't pay well enough attention to others unless they're doing something noticeable, so Kurt has earned himself a curious glance from the boxer. Spotting the familiar bowl of slop, things makes more sense. The tower continues to bring in new people, despite him being gone.

Sometimes people need encouragement to get through difficult endeavors such as the oatmeal.

"Hey, they'll give you a normal meal if you can get past that slop."

[canthaveme]

Kurt startles a little, sitting up straight and dropping his spoon into the oatmeal, where it sinks like a stone into quicksand. Turning somewhat pale green, he turns away from it quickly, swallowing hard.

"So I've heard. It's positively sadistic."

[boxingemperor]

"It's the only time you have to endure it. I think it makes everything taste better after." Akihiko's tough to get down. "I'm going to go get more to eat. I'll bring you a tray too. Seeing what came after the oatmeal helped me to finish."

Floor 25

[evokingfool]

When it comes to relaxing, Minato prefers walking around the meadow. Armed, of course, for whenever he leaves for the other floors. But for now, his evoker is sheathed in its holster and his sword is in his right hand. As he walks along, his stance is almost casual, as he enjoys the scenery.

"...Akihiko-senpai?"

It doesn't take him long to find and see his senpai doing practice maneuvers. Some of which he recognised from battles.

[boxingemperor]

By now Akihiko can tell the two male Arisatos apart more easily. He relaxes out of his stance and approaches Minato, straightening out the front of his shirt.

"Hey Arisato. Long time no see."

[evokingfool]

"It's been a while."

He knows Akihiko can take care of himself, but some part of him started to wonder when he haven't seen him in a while.

"Training hard?"

[boxingemperor]

"Trying to. I'm pretty rusty from the field trip they sent me on."

Floor 25

[taiyoukai]

[Every so often, Sesshomaru returns to this floor, tempted to shed his human appearance and try once more to reconquer his true form. Most of the time, however, there are people here, and after the strange events the past month, he has decided against flaunting his power in a proper display. But still, he continues to find his way back to this meadow, so full of flowers the sort Rin would like. There is a human there already, when he arrives, but he is rather in the mood to sit and think, and a silly human child is not going to prevent him from doing so. Sesshomaru takes a seat somewhat away from where Akihiko is practicing, and seems to not be paying attention to what he's doing for the longest time.]

Is the opening in your form intentional?

[Shut up, Sesshomaru, humans aren't fast enough to take advantage of that. Gosh. He sounds genuinely curious, nonetheless.]

[boxingemperor]

Akihiko's usually quiet, aside from the occasional grunt and heavy breath when he gets into a punch. He perks up when addressed, surprised a little by Sesshomaru's appearance. There's a strange regal heir to him.

"An opening?" Had his boxing been rusty without the guidance of his team advisor for so long?

[taiyoukai]

[The demon lord remained impassive and merely nodded his assent, one clawed hand raising to point in the general direction of Akihiko's side.]

Big enough for someone to disembowel you, yes.

[boxingemperor]

Normally his opponents don't try to do that! But this is the tower. He doesn't take the comment personally, but as constructive criticism. This is usually a move performed when his own opponent is open, but here, he could very well get double-teamed.

"Hmm. How should I block, then?"

Floor 22

[notsogrimreaper]

[Ryoji hadn't seen the art gallery yet, but he was guessing from the rest of the Tower that it wasn't very nice. It was only seeing a familiar face that made him stop, and even then, he isn't sure if he should approach the other. Akihiko may not recognize Ryoji, or perhaps Akihiko will while cursing Ryoji's appearance here. He wouldn't blame the SEES members for disliking him.

It's only after he notices how uncomfortable the other man is that Ryoji decides to approach, tapping the other boy's shoulder to try to jolt him out of his memories.]

Akihiko-sempai?

[boxingemperor]

[Fortunately for Ryoji, Akihiko hasn't reached the point in his life where Ryoji appears, so for now, they're strangers to each other.

The voice calling his name isn't familiar, but he turns to address the person anyway. He's wearing parts of the Gekkoukan uniform, it looks like. Maybe he's an underclassman that ended up here? Hidetoshi had been taken to the tower as well, so it made sense.]

Yeah?

[notsogrimreaper]

Ah, I guess you don't know me. S-Sorry.

[Ryoji offers a hand, polite but clearly nervous.]

I'm Ryoji Mochizuki. I'll be going to school at Gekkoukan in November.

[boxingemperor]

[Akihiko takes it and gives it a firm shake.]

Ah. That's not too far away for me. I arrived here when it was October. Nice to meet you, Mochizuki.