Post by Serizawa on Aug 29, 2014 12:49:38 GMT -5
(OOC: Part One. Subsequent parts will be posted here as well. So as to not just overload my RPs with flashbacks (one of my favorite story telling techniques...) I figured I'd detail the past of Serizawa and Aki here so I can focus on the present in the promo RPs.)
Taken from a formerly public, now private, blog on Ameblo. Translated from Japanese.
Out of all of us I never thought Akira would be the one to get a job. Akira, or Aki as I know her, bought into the lifestyle moreso than anyone else, and if I wasn’t so good at keeping her in line she’d probably have taken leadership right out from under me. Maybe she wouldn’t even if I didn’t. Out of everyone, I was the only one Aki considered a friend. Probably because I was the first one not to make fun of her. The first to accept her. To be honest I only acted nice towards her because I thought she’d be easy to keep in line. She was. I hadn’t counted on actually thinking of her as a friend. I’m not sure I still do, but whatever she is, Aki is the only one of us that still keeps in touch with me. The only one that hasn’t told me to grow up. I knew I liked her, and it wasn’t just because she was good with a bat.
But the bat really helped.
Akira Kawase was nursing a headache a full seven hours later. The night previous had been a welcoming party for the new hires and as that included her attendance was mandatory. She had thought to raise an objection to drinking on a work night, but she was drowned out almost immediately by both cheers and applause. Cheers in the celebratory fashion that preceded excessive drinking, applause at the new hires for showing up and mingling. For Akira, mingling meant sitting at the far end of the table and nursing a bottle of beer before her superiors insisted she, along with the other new guys and girls, partake in repeated shots of various liquors. It reminded her of high school. But in high school the drinking was a statement. The statement was now lost but at the time a very convincing argument had been made.
High school was a simpler time in that sense. Akira, in those carefree days, never figured she’d wind up as some faceless drone in the corporate world, but wearing a discount suit and entering sales figures into a computer was better than the alternative. But only just so. So the life of an office lady it was. Just like all those television dramas she was secretly a fan of.
Akira Kawase sighed, rubbed her forehead, and resumed her thankless duty at the keyboard.
So I decided to pay her a visit. We hadn’t spoken since the whole Softbank Hawks incident – totally not my fault by the way, but as a gesture of goodwill she informed me that she had found a new job despite not getting into any university. I didn’t even know she sat any entrance exams. Aki was not exactly smart; she totally had to copy off of Shirogane to pass most of her exams. Shirogane didn’t mind, he was happy that a member of the opposite sex seemed to take an interest in him. Or he was intimidated by Aki. Being tall and wearing a boy’s uniform complete with slicked back hair made Aki quite popular with the rumors. I never said it, but I admired her for not being afraid to wear the men’s school uniform. Smartest thing she ever said to me was “Serizawa, I’m not defined by my clothing.”
She told me that just before two girls walked by talking about ‘the girl who wears boy’s clothes’. Because we were friends I held my laughter.
“Aki!”
The voice from the past gets Akira’s attention and she swivels in her chair, nearly collapsing onto the floor. Standing in Akira’s work station was a woman with a leather jacket slung over her shoulders like a boxer’s cape, sleeveless t-shirt, black, under that and a pair of jeans that had the wear and tear of jeans that had been through more than one scrape. A mocking grin was on the all too familiar face.
“Serizawa? What are you doing here?”
Aki was totally happy to see me.
“That’s my line, Aki.”
Akira was too hungover to deal with this. Already she could hear her co-workers whispering and spreading rumors about the company she was keeping. Or maybe that was the worst case scenario playing out in the back of her mind.
“I’m working, that’s what I’m doing here.”
I almost didn’t believe Aki had a job but there’s no way she’d be wearing that cheap cream colored suit otherwise. She was still wearing trousers like she did in school. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her in a skirt. Or anything resembling women’s clothing. I’d be jealous but I used to wear long skirts and surgical masks. But that was fashionable. I was making a statement. Aki’s…I dunno, but I guess she’s just comfortable like that.
Her twiggy legs would look hideous in a skirt anyway.
“Yeah? Think you could get me one too?” Serizawa was still smirking; Akira knew she wasn’t serious and instead sighed just loud enough for Serizawa to hear.
“Why are you here, Serizawa? I’m busy.”
Office life turned Aki into a funless monster. What happened to the Aki that threw rocks at windows and bike wheels and who once dumped salt on a slug just to watch it squirm?
Oh wait, that last one was me.
I hate slugs.
“I had to see if it was true. That Aki turned in the school uniform for a business suit.”
“We all did, Serizawa. Being in a gang stops being fun when we can get more than a slap on the wrist and minor community service.”
I admit that she had a point. Not to me. I bought into the lifestyle. I might not own a motorcycle and I might have quit smoking and sure I don’t kill slugs for fun anymore but you’ll never catch me working in an office.
That’s the same as giving up.
“What do you mean ‘we all did’?”
Akira took note of the shocked expression on Serizawa’s face. Serizawa tried to hide it, but whether subconsciously or otherwise Serizawa ticked her head to the left. She only did that when she was feeling out of her normal calm, collected, confident comfort zone. Akira was the only one who picked up on that tell. She was always closest to the boss.
“I mean everyone else found jobs too. Murakami’s a mangaka assistant, Kimura, shockingly, is working as a police officer, Sekine found a noodle shop to apprentice at, and Hashimoto’s a patissier.” Akira counted off the names of their past associates with each finger on her left hand, a gesture that caused Serizawa to sigh.
“And Aki’s an O.L.” Serizawa’s tone was more than a little derogatory.
I knew Aki couldn’t be happy as an office lady. Office ladies are jobs for women who’ve given up. Given up on aiming for anything better. Given up on marriage. On living how they want to live. I knew Aki didn’t want that future.
I just had to make sure she knew she didn’t want it.
“It’s a job, Serizawa, it’s more than what you’ve got.” Aki’s response held the same amount of venom as Serizawa’s, and hers came complete with furrowed brow.
“Oh, Aki, you’ve no idea what I’ve got.”
“Based on your outfit you’ve got no money, no prospects, and an obsession with our teenage years.”
Working life had turned Aki into a monster. I had to save her. She was the only friend I had.
Silence hung over the two following Akira’s statement. Serizawa curled her lips in a puckered frown towards Aki who had crossed her arms, leaned back in her chair and kept her gaze focused on Serizawa.
“Lunch.” Serizawa broke the silence, her voice low and her gaze averted. “I came to ask you to lunch.”
“Serizawa, I-“
“Don’t. Look, if you want to get lunch I’ll be at the cheap kaiten-zushi near the mall. There’s something I want to talk with you about.” Serizawa gave Akira a nod before turning to leave, her shoulders noticeably slumped.
“Just…remember our promise, Aki. The one we made in our first year.” Serizawa didn’t turn back to deliver her parting message, but if she had she would have seen Akira give a faint smile to the back of her friend.
I knew I’d be seeing Aki later that day for lunch. The thing with Aki is she’s loyal. She’ll hear me out out of some sense of friendship, out of a way to say goodbye to the old life, and by bringing up a promise it’d give her something to think about as she crunches numbers or fetches coffee or whatever she does. The trick will be to get her to follow me on this journey I’m dreaming up.
I don’t need Aki with me, but I’d like her there anyway.
She’s my best friend, after all.
Taken from a formerly public, now private, blog on Ameblo. Translated from Japanese.
Out of all of us I never thought Akira would be the one to get a job. Akira, or Aki as I know her, bought into the lifestyle moreso than anyone else, and if I wasn’t so good at keeping her in line she’d probably have taken leadership right out from under me. Maybe she wouldn’t even if I didn’t. Out of everyone, I was the only one Aki considered a friend. Probably because I was the first one not to make fun of her. The first to accept her. To be honest I only acted nice towards her because I thought she’d be easy to keep in line. She was. I hadn’t counted on actually thinking of her as a friend. I’m not sure I still do, but whatever she is, Aki is the only one of us that still keeps in touch with me. The only one that hasn’t told me to grow up. I knew I liked her, and it wasn’t just because she was good with a bat.
But the bat really helped.
Akira Kawase was nursing a headache a full seven hours later. The night previous had been a welcoming party for the new hires and as that included her attendance was mandatory. She had thought to raise an objection to drinking on a work night, but she was drowned out almost immediately by both cheers and applause. Cheers in the celebratory fashion that preceded excessive drinking, applause at the new hires for showing up and mingling. For Akira, mingling meant sitting at the far end of the table and nursing a bottle of beer before her superiors insisted she, along with the other new guys and girls, partake in repeated shots of various liquors. It reminded her of high school. But in high school the drinking was a statement. The statement was now lost but at the time a very convincing argument had been made.
High school was a simpler time in that sense. Akira, in those carefree days, never figured she’d wind up as some faceless drone in the corporate world, but wearing a discount suit and entering sales figures into a computer was better than the alternative. But only just so. So the life of an office lady it was. Just like all those television dramas she was secretly a fan of.
Akira Kawase sighed, rubbed her forehead, and resumed her thankless duty at the keyboard.
So I decided to pay her a visit. We hadn’t spoken since the whole Softbank Hawks incident – totally not my fault by the way, but as a gesture of goodwill she informed me that she had found a new job despite not getting into any university. I didn’t even know she sat any entrance exams. Aki was not exactly smart; she totally had to copy off of Shirogane to pass most of her exams. Shirogane didn’t mind, he was happy that a member of the opposite sex seemed to take an interest in him. Or he was intimidated by Aki. Being tall and wearing a boy’s uniform complete with slicked back hair made Aki quite popular with the rumors. I never said it, but I admired her for not being afraid to wear the men’s school uniform. Smartest thing she ever said to me was “Serizawa, I’m not defined by my clothing.”
She told me that just before two girls walked by talking about ‘the girl who wears boy’s clothes’. Because we were friends I held my laughter.
“Aki!”
The voice from the past gets Akira’s attention and she swivels in her chair, nearly collapsing onto the floor. Standing in Akira’s work station was a woman with a leather jacket slung over her shoulders like a boxer’s cape, sleeveless t-shirt, black, under that and a pair of jeans that had the wear and tear of jeans that had been through more than one scrape. A mocking grin was on the all too familiar face.
“Serizawa? What are you doing here?”
Aki was totally happy to see me.
“That’s my line, Aki.”
Akira was too hungover to deal with this. Already she could hear her co-workers whispering and spreading rumors about the company she was keeping. Or maybe that was the worst case scenario playing out in the back of her mind.
“I’m working, that’s what I’m doing here.”
I almost didn’t believe Aki had a job but there’s no way she’d be wearing that cheap cream colored suit otherwise. She was still wearing trousers like she did in school. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her in a skirt. Or anything resembling women’s clothing. I’d be jealous but I used to wear long skirts and surgical masks. But that was fashionable. I was making a statement. Aki’s…I dunno, but I guess she’s just comfortable like that.
Her twiggy legs would look hideous in a skirt anyway.
“Yeah? Think you could get me one too?” Serizawa was still smirking; Akira knew she wasn’t serious and instead sighed just loud enough for Serizawa to hear.
“Why are you here, Serizawa? I’m busy.”
Office life turned Aki into a funless monster. What happened to the Aki that threw rocks at windows and bike wheels and who once dumped salt on a slug just to watch it squirm?
Oh wait, that last one was me.
I hate slugs.
“I had to see if it was true. That Aki turned in the school uniform for a business suit.”
“We all did, Serizawa. Being in a gang stops being fun when we can get more than a slap on the wrist and minor community service.”
I admit that she had a point. Not to me. I bought into the lifestyle. I might not own a motorcycle and I might have quit smoking and sure I don’t kill slugs for fun anymore but you’ll never catch me working in an office.
That’s the same as giving up.
“What do you mean ‘we all did’?”
Akira took note of the shocked expression on Serizawa’s face. Serizawa tried to hide it, but whether subconsciously or otherwise Serizawa ticked her head to the left. She only did that when she was feeling out of her normal calm, collected, confident comfort zone. Akira was the only one who picked up on that tell. She was always closest to the boss.
“I mean everyone else found jobs too. Murakami’s a mangaka assistant, Kimura, shockingly, is working as a police officer, Sekine found a noodle shop to apprentice at, and Hashimoto’s a patissier.” Akira counted off the names of their past associates with each finger on her left hand, a gesture that caused Serizawa to sigh.
“And Aki’s an O.L.” Serizawa’s tone was more than a little derogatory.
I knew Aki couldn’t be happy as an office lady. Office ladies are jobs for women who’ve given up. Given up on aiming for anything better. Given up on marriage. On living how they want to live. I knew Aki didn’t want that future.
I just had to make sure she knew she didn’t want it.
“It’s a job, Serizawa, it’s more than what you’ve got.” Aki’s response held the same amount of venom as Serizawa’s, and hers came complete with furrowed brow.
“Oh, Aki, you’ve no idea what I’ve got.”
“Based on your outfit you’ve got no money, no prospects, and an obsession with our teenage years.”
Working life had turned Aki into a monster. I had to save her. She was the only friend I had.
Silence hung over the two following Akira’s statement. Serizawa curled her lips in a puckered frown towards Aki who had crossed her arms, leaned back in her chair and kept her gaze focused on Serizawa.
“Lunch.” Serizawa broke the silence, her voice low and her gaze averted. “I came to ask you to lunch.”
“Serizawa, I-“
“Don’t. Look, if you want to get lunch I’ll be at the cheap kaiten-zushi near the mall. There’s something I want to talk with you about.” Serizawa gave Akira a nod before turning to leave, her shoulders noticeably slumped.
“Just…remember our promise, Aki. The one we made in our first year.” Serizawa didn’t turn back to deliver her parting message, but if she had she would have seen Akira give a faint smile to the back of her friend.
I knew I’d be seeing Aki later that day for lunch. The thing with Aki is she’s loyal. She’ll hear me out out of some sense of friendship, out of a way to say goodbye to the old life, and by bringing up a promise it’d give her something to think about as she crunches numbers or fetches coffee or whatever she does. The trick will be to get her to follow me on this journey I’m dreaming up.
I don’t need Aki with me, but I’d like her there anyway.
She’s my best friend, after all.