[OPEN] Back in the Red Longcoat: Peaceful Breeze

It had been some time. It was early afternoon, and Ryuu had returned back to Yamaku Academy.

But now, things had changed.

It wasn't life he was a different person, or had adopted a different persona, but the things that had transpired made him pull up the files of the past and he now had to confront them, one at a time, or all at once. Whichever comes first.

He had his red duffel bag slung over his shoulder and his coat's hood up over his face. Under it was a menacing look of anger; not something he was new to, so he had found out a few weeks before. Right now, anyhow, was a time for him to reconnect himself back to his former life; the Sonic's Dynamos' Lead.

'Looks like I'll have to give that guitar away to someone who will use it. I don't think I'll need it for a while anyhow...' he thought to himself as he sat down under the tree he had done so on his first week at the academy.

'Its funny how all of my good times started here, meeting Jimmy, and through him, I could meet so many different people. Life was... entertaining.' He let a small smile creep on his face before letting it drop into a scowl.

'But it's because of my naivety that it has happened twice.'

Brooding on thoughts better left alone, Ryuu didn't really catch a glimpse of the person who walked over to him.

Kanjiro was feeling so much better since he began taking the medication Julius' friend had prescribed him. He'd felt clearer than he had in a very long time. Things seemed duller in a way, but in a good way. Less overwhelming. The noise in his head was but a whisper today. The meds didn't get rid of it completely, but that's what he'd expected. He was functional now, and that's what he'd been desperately wrestling in vain with his own psyche for. He'd realised just how badly he'd been drowning under the tide of his studies, so he shut himself in and worked his fingers to the bone and his pencils until they were broken. He was intelligent and he knew he could make it through now. Exactly how well he'd do, he had no idea, but his grades were on the rise to something passable, at least. He still listened to his music obsessively. He'd initially feared he'd be repulsed by the noisy, chaotic and challenging things he usually met his eardrums with, but that hadn't changed at all. If anything he'd found a new appreciation for it. To say the least, he was happier than he'd ever been.

He saw the boy from the forest that had played guitar at Oxygen Tank Guy's party sat under a tree in the courtyard. He cast a gloomy and brooding figure, compelling Kanjiro to speak with him. He approached the boy cautiously, unsure how he'd be reacted to.

Ryuu looked up from under the hood in the direction of the shuffling sound, breaking his trail of thought. The figure cast a shadow over him, blocking out the sun that he was sitting in.

He looked up at the fellow, analytically looking over his face then his entire stature. He seemed like a pleasant person to converse with, and after all, it could pull him out of the rut he was in.

He opened his duffel bag and pulled out his tablet, quickly tapping on the screen before lowering his head and lifting the tablet.

{Yo. Who're you?}

Kanjiro took a seat on the grass next to the boy as he was met with a friendly, typed message. Exactly what reaction he'd been expecting from the boy he wasn't sure, but this certainly wasn't it.
"Yo. I'm Kanjiro. Think I recognised you from that forest party." He said with a meek version of his trademark crooked smile, the same one that usually reflected some form of deep, bittersweet sorrow that twinned with whatever joy was bringing such a smile to his face. But this was one of those very rare occasions where it was just expressing happiness, plain and simple.

Ryuu looked at the boy sitting beside him, giving a soft smile.

{Kanjiro... You're the one who got everyone's attention for me that time.}

Ryuu pulled down his hood, looking at Kanjiro.

{Nice to meet you.}

Kanjiro nodded.
"The very same. Nice to meet you too. Didn't catch your name before."
He paused and recalled Ryuu's performance.
"Liked your playing back there. Wish I was that good."

{I'm Ryuu. Ishitawa Ryuu. Sonic's Dynamo's Lead and a guitarist.}

Ryuu slightly grimaced at someone complimenting his playing, but he replied with all the same friendliness.

{Well, ah, thank you, I guess. It's just right now I'm not really in the mood to play it at this current time. If you liked my guitar-playing so much, why not take the guitar? I'll sign it for you.}

Ryuu laughed to himself at the joke, and now waited for Kanjiro's reply.

"Sonic's Dynamos? I'm supposed to have heard of them? Don't follow Japanese music much..."

Kanjiro pondered Ryuu's joking offer as though it was a legitimate one.

"Probably not a good idea. You're just not in the mood, should just take a break. No need to give it away for good."

{We're or we were well known bout a year back. And as you said, only in Japan.}

Ryuu turned the music player on his tablet on and played a short piece of music for Kanjiro to hear.

{We had the time of out lives, and I distinctly remember because that was the only life we had.}

Ryuu grinned at his comment before turning serious.

{If I am to lead my family down a path will have chosen, I need to put that side of me behind. There is no true happiness without sacrifice. It's something I've chosen to do, if for myself, for the power of the legacy of the last two heads of the Ishitawa Family.}

Ryuu turned to Kanjiro.

{The offer's still open whenever you or anyone else finds use for it. It hurts to give it up, but if I pass that part of me to someone else with the heart burning with a determined flame, then I can rest easier at night.}

"Sounds like things used to be good, then." Kanjiro said, bluntly.

He fell silent and listened to the music Ryuu played for him. He liked the guitar, but the Japanese Idol music scene wasn't really his thing. But Kanjiro had enough awareness not to share this opinion. And it was plainly obvious that Ryuu had a passion for music once, and an undeniable talent. And from what Ryuu had written, he'd once lived and breathed for performing that music, just as Kanjiro did in regards to listening to music.

Two things Ryuu then communicated struck a chord with Kanjiro.
"There is no true happiness without sacrifice." and "someone else with their heart burning with a determined flame."
Ryuu was sacrificing his passion for his family. Why exactly, Kanjiro had no idea. And even if he'd asked the mute boy sat next to him for his reasons, he'd probably never understand it. Family and companionship were things Kanjiro had never known, so the motivations and emotions that came with them eluded him completely. And the longer this thought sat in Kanjiro's head, the more he began to consider how to take himself on the journey towards finding those things. Were this simple things that he alone could never grasp, or were they the questions that plagued every human existence? If so, why did everyone else seem like they knew what they were doing?

After the long silence that Kanjiro left while he thought about these things, he realised he should probably say something.

"Very generous. But I should at least prove myself worthy first. Determined flame, right?"

He was beginning to find the prospect of a new guitar quite a nice one. He loved his battered, black off-brand guitar. The way he had patched up the cracks with masking tape, the worn strings, every little imperfection. He'd made his fingers bleed on those strings countless times, and he'd sacrificed a great deal to save his money for it. It was all he had, and he felt a connection to it that he just couldn't make with anyone or anything else in his life so far. But it was so close to falling apart and leaving him with nothing that it might just turn out to be wise to accept the generous offer of a newer one that was most likely worth more money than anything Kanjiro had ever accumulated.

[OOC: For some reason, I only just noticed I haven't read Kanjiro's "File", so I have no idea what his character build-up is, and just for the spirit of this RP, I won't read it. It'll be more realistic when I write things down and stuff.]

{Good? It was the greatest time of my life. Me and my band-buddies, when we changed our style to good ol' rock music, we really did have a rocking time. But...}

Ryuu sat silent to think for a bit before writing once more.

{You may think of this coming off as myself being forced into doing all of this for a sense of purpose, but I am 'ME', instead of finding my 'self', I root my existence on something that will propel me towards a common goal, however hated that goal may be to me... If that makes sense to you.}

Ryuu listened to Kanjiro's last comment, and this seemed to pick at his curiosity.

{Generous? I don't know, but do you know how to play a guitar?}

[OOC: Not a problem, Kanjiro doesn't have many secrets. At least, not until his arc comes into play, but I still need to figure those out. Makes for a natural interaction anyways, so don't worry about it. ]

Kanjiro took in what Ryuu wrote down, trying to make sense of the person behind those words on the screen.

"Still don't understand. But that's ok. I don't understand people much." He said, smiling.

"It's generous to me. I know a few songs. Learned my favourites. Used to take lessons, still pretty rough around the edges. Kinda enjoy that, though."

Ryuu kept pondering silently before going on.

{Okay, one last time before I hop to something else. Think of any superhero. There must be an alter-ego for them to live a normal life in society, right? But what happens if you live on one of the different sides for too long? Like in physics, Newton said:

Newton's Third Law of Motion wrote:For every action, there must be and equal an opposite reaction.

You lose one thing to gain another, in a sense. And like I said, no happiness without sacrifice.}

Ryuu stood up and stretched his legs and back before turning to Kanjiro.

{As you said. It's okay not to understand people, or even the world around you. It's more fun that way to learn about everything bit by bit, but it can hurt you sometimes.}

'...like i learned the hard way' Ryuu thought to himself. It wasn't something he wanted to continue thinking, and even Ayane had forgiven his setbacks, but now, he knew he had to stand on his own two feet to keep himself alive, so to speak.

{Generous to you? It's good you know a few songs. I think I might have some plain and filled music sheets lying around in my room someplace. Maybe we can meet up in the near future so you can take 'em off my hands? And being rough around the edges is good. You might be able to refine yourself if you're determined enough.}

Ryuu wanted to smile, but even is he did, it would feel hollow; without emotion to back it up, but he gave one anyway before turning towards the rest of the courtyard to check out the sights, with then had proven to be boring to him.

{So, where'd you learn to play?}

"Oh. I can see that... Kinda." The reference to physics was something Kanjiro quite liked, at least. Something familiar. A perspective that finally clicked. Maybe he needed to apply that method of thinking to other people more often...

"Huh. Sounds good. Learned back in Hokkaido. Had a guitar teacher near the orphanage. My carer paid. Feel bad about that. Couldn't afford it with pocket money, though."

'O-orphanage? So he's also lost his parents?'Ryuu was taken back by that comment. 'Don't ask; don't tell', was an unwritten rule that governed Yamaku Academy, so he was just going to follow that for not instead of prying

{You felt bad about it? You were doing something you liked. I took up swords training and kendo because I had to, but found it could be fun later on. I gained a close friend out of it as well. Learn to free yourself once in a while and be 'YOU'. You wanna rock? By all means, reach for the stars. You'll land on the moon if your lucky enough... or enter Earth's atmosphere really fast while burning up. Either way is fine by me.}

Ryuu wanted to let loose a bit, and that was exactly what he was going to do.

{You know what? How's about I teach yah once you get you hands on that thing? Passing on a legacy is tiring, but it'll be more find to hang out and stuff. You seem like a good guy.}

Ryuu turned away slowly before turning back quickly, right arm out and pointing directly at Kanjiro.

{Or are you the villain for this heinous crime?}

Ryuu took a second to stay in character before breaking into a (inaudible) laugh.

{You got me out of what I was thinking about. Like the Doc said, we ALL gotta talk to someone sometimes. Thanks for letting me let off some steam.}

"Didn't feel bad about learning it. Felt bad that Hisako had to pay. She's not my mother, didn't adopt me. Didn't owe me anything, had no reason to pay. Should have tried harder, paid for myself..."

He nodded with determination at the next part of Ryuu's written motivational speech.
"Gonna play 'til my fingers break, and then some. Don't care where I end up, just gonna go for it."

He read the next thing Ryuu wrote, the offer to give him tuition. His fingers twitched erraticly for a brief moment before he regained control.
"Sounds good."

Kanjiro stared blankly at Ryuu while he pointed accusatorily at him, before revealing the joke on his tablet. It still took him a little longer than it should to process the joke and break into a more audible laugh.
"Glad I could. Not usually too good with this whole other people thing..." He said, the remains of the laughter still making his inflection uneven.