An Exchange, Plain and Simple (Kahn/Open)

These days, Nanami could be found with a jacket in her bag. Not any jacket though. Hero-err, Khan, was it? No, it was spelled a bit differently as Kahn- Azame's jacket. Washed and neatly stuffed into the bottom of her bag. She was just waiting to find the red head again. She probably should wash it again. After all, she didn't know what kind of crumbs got into her bag. Maybe his jacket was getting wrinkly in there too. Certainly, the impressions of her books have burned their way onto it. Ah, where was he? He wasn't in any of her classes, and he wasn't in any of the martial clubs that she went to. All she had was his name, and not many people had heard of him. Maybe she should post a bulletin on the school website? That sounded like a good idea. Yeah, others would see it, but she could care less at this point. Very quickly, she typed something out and waited. With any luck, he could come today. If not, tomorrow.

Kahn was surprised to see the bulletin about the exchange, and where to meet Nanami. He figured they would have seen each some time during school, but it appears as though it was not meant to be. However, upon seeing the bulletin, he would make his way back to the computer lab. Thankfully, he had kept her cellphone and coin purse in fairly good condition. However, something bugged him...should he tell her about Kogami, the leader of the two thugs that beat her up, that he had apologized? It still didn't feel right, but perhaps it was for the better. He would wait to see how this exchange would go before making his decision.

The second year entered the computer lab and spotted Nanami, he called out to her, in a rather happy tone, before waving at her, "Nanami! I saw your message, and I have some good news for you. My friend happened to come across the two who attacked you, and he was able to get your stuff back." He said, however if she looked closely she might be able to see a small bruise that he didn't have before on one of his cheeks. It was only a little red, but it was noticeable enough that those who had seen him before would tell the difference. He adjusted some of his red hair so it didn't cover up his eyes, "I take it you have my jacket?

Once she produced her jacket, he would pull out her coin purse and cellphone from his left front pocket to show that he did indeed retrieve her stuff from her attackers. Well, he managed to get the stuff that they didn't immediately pitch into a nearby trash can that it.

She smiled when he came in, but stopped mentally when she saw him. Something was wrong. Something with his face. "Uhh, yeah. Just give me a second to get it out." Nanami hefted her battered book bag up to the desk and opened it. Jeeze, she had a lot of books. This would probably be another bag that would wind up ruined this year. Maybe she should carry less? If so, then she didn't know which ones. They were all important to her. One by one, she pulled out school books and notebooks and book books, until she reached the bottom of it, to pull out the jacket and unfold it.

"A little wrinkled, but that should-" She stopped as an eraser fell out and bounced around on the floor. She glared at it, puckering her lips in anger. "I was looking for you, you brat." The eraser said nothing. It was an eraser after all. "Don't give me that shiny white innocence! Thanks to you, I had to open another one, and I think I like him better!" Still the eraser did not retort. Rather, it laid there on its side in resignation. "Fine. Be that way. See if I care. I'm not picking you up." She stood and made it a point to walk past it, nose up in the air.

"Thank you so much Azame-san. You jacket was the height of politeness, though I think I have to separate it from my eraser. They... really like each other, if you catch my drift." To anyone else, she would seem insane. To her, it was only her creating stories about the objects around her. Who didn't do that from time to time? People got paid millions of yen to make movies and books about sentient objects. See Toy Story. "I also have reasons to believe your jacket is a masochist. Who would just sit there and take the beating from all of my books if they didn't like that?"

Kahn watched Nanami pull out a book, then another, and another....and one more? Jeez how has she not ruined her back with that many books in it? There was his jacket, all the way at the bottom, neatly folded so it would fit. He decided to make a comment on the number of books in her backpack, "I'd be careful with how much you put in your back pack, it is often the way that students end up hurting their back sooner than later. Of course, I'm not one to talk, but then again I lift weights so my back muscles are a bit stronger than most others." Kahn took a close look and noticed that they weren't all textbooks, "What kind of genre are the non-school books? Mystery, Adventure, Fiction or Non-fiction?" He inquired, he was a fan of adventure and fantasy.

Then Nanami got a bit odd, considering how she began to scold a used eraser for not being there when she needed it, and how she was forced to use a new one which she claimed to like better. It was something Kahn had not expected to see....ever. But in the end he would smile and laugh, "Yeah, you tell that eraser, show it who is boss around here." He wasn't trying to tease her, but he had just decided to laugh and have fun with the situation. After all they weren't in any danger, so what's wrong with laughing every now and then.

Once they made the exchange, Kahn put the jacket on and rolled his shoulder. It still fit just fine, and was still rather comfortable. Then he choose to respond to what she said, "I think I do, are you saying that my jacket likes to be a bit of a trouble maker? It may not be a masochist, it may just be a rather patient friend who would rather not trouble his other friends. It's tough...like me" Kahn noticed that she seemed to create her own reality with a rather active imagination, "I have a question. You told me that you were an author, are you currently writing a series or a book? If so...what is it about?" The second year was a bit interested, after all with this imagination she might be quite the non-fiction writer. Who knows, what ideas are bouncing around in her head right now.

...though he certainly hoped that it wasn't something involving a masochist jacket.

Gosh that was a lot of questions and one statement that she had to respond to. Nanami laughed a bit. "Well, let's take them in order, shall we? I'll be fine. I've been dealing with this and I'll deal with it some more. Thing is, I just can't leave any of those behind, one way or another." She sighed and looked to the pile. "Fantasy mostly, but I have a couple of historical books thrown into the mix too. For research purposes you know." She looked over her things. It was a good thing she didn't have a license nor was there anything really sensitive in either one. Just a bunch of texts from someone she didn't know, and- "No...." All of those text logs... deleted.... She had some good stuff in there...! Now she was a little chuffed. No, she was a little more than chuffed. She was silently seething under her skin. But, what could you do? They weren't planning on paying for any of it. It was a good thing they got this phone shut off before anything more happened.

She sighed, shook her head and shoved both into her own jacket. "I can see what you mean about your jacket being patient. It certainly seemed that way as I was trying to figure out how to fold it. Guess I was trying to project a different persona onto it!" She laughed a bit. "But yeah, I'm an author. Currently I have.... like 800 million different stories going on. All of them are unfinished. The main story I'm working on though is about a dog and his boy. It's supposed to be for kids, but-" The author sighed and shook her head. "It's not working out. I just- I just can't get into the mood."

Kahn scratched the back of his head...he had to stop asking so many questions before it became a bad habit. She claimed that she'll be fine, and then her gaze drifted to the pile of books, "Well to each their own, I suppose, but at least now you know about the possible damage." His eyes read a few titles from the books in the pile beside her before making a comment about the genre of fantasy, "Also I gotta say you have a nice collection of fantasy, I too am a fan of that genre. I don't know why...it doesn't quite fit the rest of my personality, but maybe it's because of how nasty the real world can be. Sometimes, it is good to read how the heroes pull out of a horrible situation in their own reality."

It was a shame to think such a way, but Kahn had seen the darker sides of humanity. He noticed that Nanami was a bit upset..perhaps the thugs Kahn had beat up did something in her phone. Hopefully the damage wasn't that permanent. He would ask, but he figured it was personal thus he wouldn't intrude on such a matter. However, the topic soon shifted to his jacket one more, and how she was trying to project a different persona. He smiled, and chuckled a bit at her exaggeration of how many stories she was working.

"Well with that many ideas, it only makes sense that you're having a little writer's block. Might I recommend music? I find that helps me get into the weight lifting mood, and maybe it will help you come over your writer's block. What's the story about anyways? Besides a dog and his boy obviously?" Kahn inquired, sure he was a bit old for such a tale, but he was always happy to help someone else. Though in all honesty he was unsure of how much help he would be due to his lack of creative talent.

Gosh, the story... "Well, it's about a dog who grows up with his boy. And the boy goes away sometimes, because the 'wild' likes him, but the boy always comes back. It's actually supposed to be a series of books about love and friendship and how not to bark at strangers and how not to run off because the alpha is mad at you and if you do to hide underneath the seat of the truck." She had to smile fondly at the memories. "But every time I try to sit down and write, it's as if-" She turned her back on Kahn and waved a hand around. "They hie from me as a dove flits away from the preening cat, to return to me only before the hours of those that worship the sun!" She turned back to him. "You know?"

Kahn listened to Nanami intently, a story about a dog and a boy who would wander off because the 'wild' likes him? Interesting concept, and then she went to explain the story was about love and friendship, and she even smiled as she described one of the scenes. Perhaps it held some kind of importance to her. It seems like the ideas just flew away from her, and she just couldn't catch them at all. She asked him if he knew what she was talking about, he rubbed the back of his neck and shook his head.

"I'm not much of a writer, but sometimes I will struggle with a part in an essay every so often. Ever try writing down a brief description of an idea the moment it strikes you? Or maybe you could....well shoot I just don't know, but maybe you just need to wait. The inspiration will strike you eventually you just need to wait for it to emerge from the wild called your imagination." He said offering her a smile.

She slumped her shoulders. "That's what I had my phone for. To catch all the ideas that came flying out of my head. But with this most recent development, I'm not sure I'm even cut out for writing. If I'm not, then what good am I?" She shook her head and paced about the hallowed machines, heartbroken at the thought of not writing. "I can't cook very well, I can't be house bound or I'll get rounder than I already am, I can't, I can't, I can't! Writing was the one thing I had going for me!" She stopped as suddenly as she started, trying to pull her emotions back in order and failing spectacularly. "Guess I'll always just be useless, huh Azame-san?"

Kahn listened to Nanami get quite upset about losing all her notes, and said that she may just quit writing and said that she was useless. He became rather stiff when she said 'useless', and straightened up quite a bit. He would walk up to her and placed both of his hands on her shoulders, his grip got tight, and his eyes had a quite serious look in them. "Look at me." He would say and both of his green eyes' stare would pierce into her own.

"You are not useless, and you can't give up because someone else did something to you. Sure those thugs may have set you back, but that isn't the sign that you need to stop writing. They did what they did because they were jerks, and didn't need what you wrote. I know what it is like to feel lost, confused, and useless. It isn't a fun place, but you have to believe in yourself and the fact that it can and will get better. If writing a book about a dog and a child is your thing then write, and keep writing if you love it so much! You can't just give up, and stop calling yourself useless cause' you're not. You managed to return my jacket didn't you?" That was what Kahn called his pep talk, and he hoped Nanami got the message loud and clear. This way they could switch back to the happier mood that they had a few moments ago. He hated depressing talks, and preferred an upbeat mood to a sad one.

She looked when she was ordered too. He was so serious, it was hard not to take his words to heart. This boy- no man- took her self-depreciation seriously enough to help her try and get out of it. She smiled and felt a few tears stream down her face before she wiped them away with the back of her hand, under her glasses. What a childish move, but it was a familiar one and so she did it. Probably would continue doing it the rest of her life too.

"T-thank you, Azame-san. I forget sometimes I'm supposed to actually care about myself instead of just giving up on the first try." More tears leaked out of her eye holes and she tried her best to stem them, but they stubbornly refused. So she just kept rubbing until her face was red, her eyes bloodshot and eyelids puffy. She could swear that snot was pouring out of her nose, but it was going to stay just inside the cavity until she flexed the nostril. Horray for the power of surface tension.

Kahn sighed he saw her start to cry, but at least she smiled, he would shift his grip slightly and give her a smile hug and pat her on the back. "Hey, it's no problem friends are meant to look out for one another. I won't let a friend beat themselves up for something they can't control, nor will I let them beat themselves up because something happened to me." He said slightly shrugging his shoulders.

"Beating yourself up doesn't do anyone any good. It doesn't help you, it doesn't help me, and most certainly doesn't help you find your muse." He said before releasing her and stepping back and lightly hit himself in the head. He would shake his head a moment later, "Nope, no new inspiration for doing that. You need to be a little bit more confident in yourself. Also when something goes wrong, try to look the bright side, or don't get super depressed. Things happen, but it's how we survive that makes us who we are." He said the last bit in a sing song kind of voice, almost like he was quoting lyrics from a song. One of his favorite songs actually, he would offer her a smile before simply asking.

"So do you feel better yet?"

Strengths:

Nanami nodded and sniffed, and then sniffed some more. She wasn't a delicate creature, that was for sure. She was very ungainly, even when she was crying. Another huge sniff and that was it. Her nose was done, for the most part. "Nah. I got a headache. But I'll be fine as long as I sleep. And probably get some food in me." Nope, her nose wasn't quite done as it leaked, but she sniffed it all back down. "Gah, sorry, sorry. I don't even know why I'm apologizing but here I am apologizing anyway! Ah, fuckkkk..." She shook her head and straightened up. "Thank you. I'm probably rambling on too much for you, but thank you anyway. I'll try not to give up again."

Kahn threw his head back and laughed a little bit, "Nah, don't worry about it. Just lighten up a little bit and make sure to take care of yourself." He would say before quickly adding, "If you ever feel down about something try to recall something good that you did that same day, and if you haven't done anything good then resolve to do something good to make up for it." These were little things that he did on the his bad days, and they helped him...so hopefully they would serve her well to? Well he could always hope.

"I find your ramblings somewhat enjoyable, sure they seem a little random or sporadic, but still a bit enjoyable. Not to mention we all need a wall to bounce ideas off of right? Well I can be that wall, it's something I'm kinda used to actually. " He explained, recalling the times his friends used him as a wall to get out their troubles or just to have someone to talk to.

She shook her head, even though that caused most of her head to hate her. "I'm not really one of those types of people. I'm much more of a 'kick myself down and cry as others continue to kick me down.' But, with you, I think I could try to keep myself upbeat in the end. At least I'd have someone to talk at." Suddenly, she got a distant look in her eyes, pulled out her phone and hit the record button. "Modern day fantasy, world gone to shit, need to find a jewel or gem or something to restore the planet. Elf is disillusioned, Human is an idiot, and Dwarf is a hoodlum type character." That thought out of the way, she put up her phone and smiled. "Do you want to go out for a afternoon snack sometime? I only have 300 yen, but we could probably pull something off."