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It wasn’t meant to be a big deal. A communication course was required for his degree, but he had put it off in favor of more STEM related classes. He finally caved the second semester of his freshman year as he registered for classes.
Day one of the class they had reviewed the syllabus in a tense silence. Senkuu learned there were the occasional quizzes here and there, but the biggest part of this grade would be the speeches. Each of the 3 was about 25% of his grade.
So an easy A then? Senkuu has thought. He had presented some of his findings on the mysterious stone geometry in front of a filled auditorium before. A 5-7 minute speech in front of a class of at most 25 was nothing.
Senkuu had come early the next day, expecting the same tense atmosphere that usually came with a class full of new people, but to his surprise the class was standing with each other around another student. Senkuu realized even if he was in a class with new people, not everyone was as anonymous. Stage performer Gen Asagirir was in the middle of the crowd pulling off some kind of card trick.
He skipped the first day, and now he’s doing card tricks? Definitely a character.
Senku paid him no mind and took a seat.
Their first speech came and Senkuu presented with his normal straightforward approach. Minimalist slide design, flat tone, and standing behind the podium the whole time. He wasn’t the focus of the presentation after all. The quack stage performer on the other hand was his total opposite. His presentation felt like it was only a few steps below needing confetti to end it off. Over the history of playing cards too.
In Senkuu’s opinion it was over the top, but in the professor’s opinion it deserved the highest grade in the class. In that moment he had two questions: What did the mentalist, who was clearly faking his charm, know that he didn’t? And how to keep from getting another 85.
“Senkuu wasn’t it?” Senkuu turned to find Asagiri being the one who was stopping him.
“Yeah,” Senkuu threw his backpack onto his shoulder.
“I just thought I’d mention how much I liked your presentation topic. Sucks we could take only take 7 minutes.,” Something in the way he said that made Senkuu’s hair stand on end. Well the ones not on his head.
“Your charm ‘s not working on me Asagiri. What do you want?” Senkuu replied.
“ Harsh,” Gen put his hands up like he was blocking something. “I just thought I'd wish you luck that’s all,” All said with a smile that no longer reached his eyes. “May the best presenter win?” Gen put out his hand.
That bastard.
Senkuu put his hand deep into his pockets.“Kuku, keep your luck Asagiri. Don’t need it,”
“If you say so,” Gen pulled his hand back. “Either way, you got until November 1st,”
The easy class he had signed up for was soon snowballing into something much bigger. He had gone to public speaking labs, speech tutorials, and could resight the bullet points of his next speech in his sleep. All he had left to do now was wait till the next round of presentations started.
In the meantime… It was Halloween.
And with Taiju and Yuzuriha as his best friends, you’d think the holiday was their second birthdays.
“I know it’s not what we normally do but I promised Amaryllis I would at least say hi,” Yuzuriha explained. ‘Plus it’s only going to be people she knows so nothing too crazy,’’
“I’m down,” Taiju smiled. “It’ll give us a chance to show off our costumes,”
Yuzuriha beamed.“Exactly!” Senkuu double checked to make sure both weren’t emitting any actual light. “Senkuu?”
Whether they were emitting their own light or not, both were clearly excited about the party. “Sure,” He shrugged. “Just don’t expect me to socialize that much,”
“Deal!” Yuzuriha nearly squeezed. “And don’t worry, right after we'll go to you and Taiju’s place to watch movies,”
“Speaking of which…,” Taiju added.
Senkuu had seen the date circled with bright red marker a few times that day, but through the morning and afternoon, it hadn’t quite clicked what October 31st was in terms of holidays. As Senkuu paced his room with his prompt cards, all it meant was he had 3 days left to perfect his speech.
Knock knock
Senkuu heard the door to his room creak on its hinges. “Senkuu?”
“Yeah Taiju?” Continued to pace with his nose in the cards.
“You almost done?” Taiju replied.
Senkuu stopped pacing and was about to ask Taiju why he was asking when he noticed the striped suit jack and fake pencil mustache. “Huh,” Senkuu turned to his window only to notice the lack of natural lighting. “Ohh right. Sorry, give me a sec,” Senkuu put his notecards on the desk before going to his closest.
“Lost track of time again huh?” Taiju playfully asked.
“What time is it?” Senkuu shed off his T-shirt.
“About 8:20,”
10 minutes til… The face paint would have to wait until they came back to the apartment. “Then yes,”
“You know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so nervous for a class before,” Taiju pointed out.
“Not nervous. It’s for communications,” Senkuu tried to split his focus between his best friend and trying to keep the tie from strangling him. “Not giving that bastard the bragging rights again,” Senkuu couldn’t check for himself but if he had to guess, his grin was comparable to some horror movie villain.
“And you thought you’d hate the class,” Taiju, who was all too familiar with Senkuu’s expressions, said. “You made a friend and everything,”
Senkuu slipped the dress pants over his hips. He’s not my friend Taiju. He just gets under my skin that’s all,”
Taiju’s lips pushed into a flat line. “Uh hmh,”
Senkuu was also pretty familiar with Taiju’s mannerisms, and that felt very un-Taiju like. Yet, it reminded him of someone… “What’s that mean?” Senkuu’s brows pulled closer together.
“Uh hmh,” Taiju nodded again.
Who is he copying…? Yuzuriha!!
Senkuu groaned. “What have you two been saying?” Taiju’s face pressed closer to his neck. “Taiju,”
“Well uhhhh,”
‘Nock ‘nock
Senkuu and Taiju turned their attention to the front door as the lock clicked open. “Alright, cars parked out front, I have all my stuff, just need to walk back to my apartment and…,” Yuzuriha trailed off when she noticed the two staring. “What’s going on?” Her black hobble dress trailing behind as she put her bags down.
“I told Senkuu we think he likes the guy from his communications class,” Taiju carried all that in one breath.
“Ohhhh yaaa. Him,” Yuzuriha sang each word on a lower note. “Well…,” Yuzuriha, too, pushed her lips into a line.
Senkuu opened his mouth like words were supposed to come out on their own, but instead, it sounded like a disgruntled zombie. When Senkuu’s mind finally rebooted- “Why?”
“I mean, you diddddddd bring him up a lot,” Yuzuriha half mumbled.
“And you’re putting in all this effort to impress him right?” Taiju mentioned.
“No!? He’s just some smug magician that needs to be taken down a few,” Senkuu pictured something for a second before a shiver shook it out of him. “It annoys me just thinking about him,”
“You’re right, we’re sorry. Just thought it was a possibility that’s all,” Yuzuriha quickly corrected. “Let’s quickly go to the party and not worry about him for the rest of the night,”
Ya, with how many people he was bumping into it was hard to focus on one singular person.
Once the pair spotted their friends, Senkuu convinced him he’d be fine on his own for a little bit. But that was before the number of attendees practically doubled. Some were gathered around the coffee table playing card games, some were leaning against the kitchen island talking, and the rest were either sort of dancing or leaning on the wall to talk to someone. Between those 4 categories Senkuu was making his own as the guy who kept going back for more punch. It was way too sweet for his tastes, but it gave him an excuse to why he wasn’t talking to anyone. Who would think to bother the frankenstein- esque butler with a cup of punch to his lips currently leaning in the corner of the kitchen?
“Oh Senkuu!” Senkuu wasn’t even drinking anything yet still felt like he choked.
“Ugch, hey Ryusui,” Senkuu said from behind his sleeve.
He had met the boastful millionaire when he and Taiju needed a 3rd for their Marco project. Senkuu hadn’t forgotten his tendency to project his voice when he was excited but it felt so much louder in the crowded room. Or maybe it was just all the conversations blending into one that was chipping away at Senku.
“I didn’t think I’d see you here,” Hard to be annoyed at the guy, though.
“Ehh I’m just here with Taiju and Yuzuirha,” Senkuu found himself nearly shouting to be heard over the commotion.
“I saw Yuzuriha earlier but I didn’t see Taiju” Ryusui turned his head to try and find the only other person taller than himself. “Makes sense they’d show up together huh?”
“His hair ‘s black,” Senkuu tried to gulp down another sip of punch.
Yup, still too sweet.
“Oh I see him. ‘M gonna say hi,” Ryusui hummed. “See you in class Tuesday?"
“Yeah see ya,” Senkuu felt like he was losing coherency by the second.
The blonde left to find Taiju and it made Senkuu feel tad guilty about being so dismissive. He’d text him about it when he got back home. Or whenever the buzzing feeling in his head didn’t feel like it was crushing him.
At least he could sort of hear his own thoughts again. Even if he had to fix his eyes to the floor to hear them.
This is getting more pittable by the second. Maybe I should go ask them if they’re ready to go.
Senkuu, keeping his eyes a bit too fixed to the ground, tried to get out of his corner.
Of course he knocked into someone the second he tried to move. “Sorry,” Senkuu quickly muttered.
“Senkuu chan?”
Senkuu clenched his jaw to stop any groans that wanted to come out. “Hey Asagiri,” Senkuu met Gen’s eyes.
Gen already had a unique look to him with the half white side of his hair but Senkuu’s eyes went straight to the deerstalker hat with a beige houndstooth pattern on it. The old look clashed with such a modern hairstyle. And it got a chuckle or two out of him. “Sherlock? Really?”
“Closest thing to a mentalist I could think of?” Gen shrugged.
“Righttt,” Senkuu half sang. “So what are you doing here? Don’t you have some kind of celebrity party to go to?”
“I do but my friend’s girlfriend invited me to this one,” Gen explained with that aggravating grin. “Plus I already wrapped up my photoshoot for the day,”
“I can’t tell if you’re joking or not,” Senkuu deadpanned.
Gen tilted his head with a slight eyebrow raise. “In any case, who are you supposed to be?”
“Lurch,”
“From the Addam’s family?”
“Yeah, friend’s idea. Just forgot my face paint,” Senkuu glanced behind Gen. “My friends are supposed to be Mortica and Gomez,”
Gen followed the glance. “I see. That’s a cute idea for a trio," Of course this asshole couldn’t go 3 seconds without teasing him. “But why Lurch?”
“Easist to put on” Senkuu replied.
“As practical as ever I see,”
Either Gen was being sincere and the universe was messing with him or that bastard knew exactly what he was saying. “Yup,” Senkuu popped the “P”.
“Well, I need some fresh air,” Gen suddenly stretched his arms up. “Care to join me?”
Senkuu raised a brow.“Why?” He was trying to look for something nefarious in Gen’s expression, but he didn’t see anything yet.
In fact, he switched out his grin for a softer smile. At least… he thought it did. “'Cause it looks like you could use some too,”
Either way, he wasn’t really in a position to say no. “Lead the way,”
It took a string of “excuse me”s and “sorry”s from both of them to get out the front door.When they finally stepped out, the fresh air was both nice to breathe and a chilling reminder of how sweaty he was. Senkuu gripped the railing before putting all his weight in his arms and letting out a sigh.
“Not good with big groups, Senkuu chan?” Gen asked.
“Not like that, no,” Senku pushed himself off the railing.
“How do you mean?” Gen continued to probe.
“I’ve done a few speaking events at science conferences before,” Senkuu felt the buzzing in his head ease up. “Actually gave one about those stone swallows I talked about in class. Course it was probably more engaging to other researchers than students in class. Don’t think anyone was taking me seriously,”
“Hey, I said I enjoyed listening to it,” Gen remarked.
Senkuu turned his head towards Gen. He was expecting to see that grin again but it was the same soft smile Gen had before. Somehow that also made his hairs stand up on end too. “You were serious about that?”
“The stone swallows that have been appearing correlate with the actual swallow population, and there is evidence there are signs of brainwaves coming from the statues,” Gen resighted. “Did I get that right?”
A huff of air passed out Senkuu’s nose. “Ten billion points to you meantlist,” Senkuu smirked. “But you forgot the part where we’re observed swallow migration patterns changed over the past 4 years,”
“Orry say,” Gen said with no real conviction behind his voice.
Definitely a character.
“Ready to go back in yet?” Gen moved his head to the door.
“Yeah, probably just going to ask my friends if we can head back anyways,” Senkuu added. “And Gen?”
“Ya?”
“Sorry, I assumed you were teasing me,”
Gen hummed a small laugh. “Sorry I didn’t tease you enough,” Gen put a hand on the doorknob. “I’ll try to start now,”
“Alright alright,” Senkuu nudged Gen. “I get it,”
Without thinking about it, Senkuu and Gen stepped back in together. The party felt more manageable now but Senkuu still preferred to go home.
“There you are, god,” A blond woman with her hair up in a ponytail intercepted them. “Thought you left early,” She said before turning to Senkuu and then back at Gen. “Huh, Sherlock and Watson. Good costumes,”
Before Senkuu could protest and explain his lack of face paint- “You think so, Kohaku chan?”
Bastard.