[The store is practically his at the rate Vietnam lets him take charge of the back. It's probably an abuse of his newly-given freedoms, but Tadokoro won't complain, so long as Makishima doesn't tattle. But it's quiet in the back, just the two of them in the warm room, and Tadokoro takes a moment to turn on the side fan. He has a feeling his break will be a little longer.]
Getting overwhelmed at home? Or do I have to beat someone up?
[He doubts it's the second, but the offer is always there.]
Why is it that every time I have a problem, your solution is violence? We're not a bicycle gang. [While he appreciates Tadokoro's fierce devotion to their friendship and wanting to protect him, that's kind of excessive. Nice, but excessive. With a shake of his head, Makishima takes a bite of the cookie. He'd like to wash it down with milk but unfortunately his drink is missing a key element, and so he taps at the lid to signal Tadokoro's attention.
Straw please. But he doesn't announce it and instead continues talking.]
[He grins a little. They're not a bicycle gang, but a bicycle club is the closest he'll ever get to living his rebellious teenage lifestyle. He watches Makishima closely, though the tapping of the lid reminds him of what he's missing. Right. Springing up, he moves over to the side cabinet to rummage--
But he pauses when he catches Makishima speaking again. Five days... That's far longer than he'd been expecting. It has him staring back at his friend incredulously.]
Still!? Goodness... [Tadokoro turns back to the cabinet, frowning rather mightily as he retrieves a straw. He shuts it and walks over, offering the small plastic.] What a mess... Think we could ask the landlord?
[A small frown begins to form from Tadokoro's reaction, and Makishima puts the cookie back down as his appetite seems to disappear for a moment. He takes the straw silently and tucks it into his mouth, opens the milk and then removes the straw to dip it back in.
Before he lifts it up to his lips, his frown deepens at the suggestion, and his eyes narrow in contempt at the counter as he mumbles with a quiet yet intent sort of anger.]
I'm not asking that guy for anything. It's like begging for forgiveness even though Onoda's done nothing wrong. [This is some angry milk sipping going on right now. You don't mess with Onoda and get away with it.]
[Tadokoro nods. He can understand that--no one trusts the guy. Tadokoro sure as hell doesn't, but he seems to be the only one with the power here. He sighs, though he ends up letting it out more like a bearish grumbling, and tries to think some more.]
We need to figure out what did it, then. Maybe we can get it back.
You can't just "get back" someone's eyesight. It's logically impossible. [Yet a part of him really, really wishes it could be done. Now he just feels stressed all over again. Makishima has to put the milk down so he can rub at his temples before he sets his arms on the counter and just stares at the cookies.]
Every time something like this happened, it only lasted for a day or so. If I knew it was going to be different this time then I... [He hangs his head low, running a hand through his hair, causing it to frame his face messily.]
I wouldn't have taken that competition so seriously. I shouldn't have tried so hard to get my team points. I should have helped him.
[Onoda might have lost his sight for good, and while he blames the Landlord, Maki also blames himself.]
There's no just sudden losin' it like that either.
[There's got to be a way. Of course, Onoda having glasses already meant his sight was slowly fading, but... he suspects something else is in play. Always does in this place, from what he's seen. With a soft sigh, he just walks over, setting a hand on Makishima's shoulder.]
Look. You didn't do anything--you couldn't have. No one knew what sort of tricks came from not getting a game's worth of dumb points. If his sight's gone for good, then... we just find ways to help him with it. Learn to read that dot-writin' with him, listen to Drama CD's, all that junk. He'll be okay.
[He looks up, and a heavy frown settles on his face.] I realize I'm talkin' out of my ass here but that's still what I think. Hell, I'll listen to all the Drama CD's with him, and we can describe all the characters to him, everything! You can pad the walls so he doesn't run into anythin' either. Lots of blind people are out there, they're still okay.
[He knows that Tadokoro is only trying to help, and he's making perfect sense, but Makishima just can't accept it as he listens in frustrated silence before he shakes his head and brushes off the hand on his shoulder as he steps aside to face Tadokoro with desperate eyes.]
That's not-- [He pauses as he realizes that his tone is loud, and it's clear that he'd been about to yell at Tadokoro right at that second.] Don't say those things like it'd be that easy. He can't just be okay with it and deal! He's a climber! He can't ride anymore!
[Imagine an endless void of nothing at all sides no matter where you go. For a person it's a nightmare. For Makishima, it sounds like hell.
Climbing isn't just about the struggle to get to the top; it's the view once you get there that means the most. The highest point that no one other than you could ever reach. Winding roads that take you higher and higher, a steep slope that takes you further toward the end of the road that seems so close to your reach, the goal that you can't take your eyes off of.
Onoda might never see the view at the peak ever again, the beautiful sight where the road ends and the sky begins, the closest you'll ever get to touching the clouds. Now it's black. And it'll always be that way.
And it's all his fault. The corners of Makishima's eyes sting with tears.]
Tadokorocchi, he's a first year. He doesn't deserve this. It should have been me instead of him!
[As his hand is pushed aside, Tadokoro actually has to fight the urge to sigh. He knows Makishima's just frustrated because of the situation, how powerless he is, but he has a feeling there's still a workaround.
Shaking his head, he just reaches over to pull Makishima into a hug.]
Did you know about tandem bicycling? It's when a blind rider has a sort of... pilot, I think that's what they call them? Well, that person acts as their eyes. Usually it's one o' them two-seated bikes, but knowing us, we could probably just hook a rope onto his racer, get someone to ghost in front to make sure his bike doesn't sway.
Makishima, you losing your sight wouldn't help anyone either. It's not good, no, but there's always ways around it, okay?
[His grip tightens a little. You accept this comfort, you goof. Cry into this big bara bear of a bosom.] It will be okay. You know Onoda--he's resilient. Bet he'd probably still be able to coast up a mountain even without his sight because the kid's a damn miracle. Don't give up on him so easily.
[Makishima doesn't understand what Tadokoro is doing when he wraps his large arms around him until he realizes he's actually crying, and his head drops on his chest in defeat as he listens and makes sense of everything he's saying.
Don't give up so easily. Don't lose your faith in him. They can do anything, Onoda can do anything, as long as they believe in each other. As long as they have each other's support.
And so Makishima stays silent, because there's nothing else for him to really say. Tadokoro's succeeded in making him feel pretty stupid for worrying so much. Of course it doesn't mean he's not still incredibly upset, so he just stands there against him and accepts the comfort even though he doesn't return the hug. He doesn't really think he can or that he even should, it'd make him feel too much like a child throwing a tantrum, which is how he feels at the moment. He can't believe he needed to be talked down out of his tirade.
He feels stupid, but now, he feels pretty good too. No one's actually done anything like this with him since Onoda went blind. Toudou's been supportive but in a different sort of way. Makishima doesn't know how Tadokoro does it, but the way he talks to him and offers simple yet blunt forms of encouragement is always... nice. For a realist like him, it's refreshing to be reminded that you don't always need to see a single result in everything. It's not always black and white.]
[When he doesn't feel Makishima pressing away, Tadokoro just tightens his hold a little. It's weird how much Makishima seems like a dad when he's worrying so much over Onoda. But even so, Makishima's still barely an adult himself, not even old enough to drink, and yet he's weighed down with so many concerns over everyone. But even so, Tadokoro believes it'll all be okay.
After all, they've always found ways around their issues. And Onoda, he's their little miracle child of the team, their amazing little otaku who's destined for greatness. Even if he's blind, he'll go somewhere. But he might also just be blind there--that doesn't limit his potential once they go home at all. Tadokoro isn't going to worry too much. Might plan how to punch the landlord in the face, but concern? Not so much.]
It'll be okay. Just hang on to that hope, okay? We'll figure this out.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Getting overwhelmed at home? Or do I have to beat someone up?
[He doubts it's the second, but the offer is always there.]
no subject
Why is it that every time I have a problem, your solution is violence? We're not a bicycle gang. [While he appreciates Tadokoro's fierce devotion to their friendship and wanting to protect him, that's kind of excessive. Nice, but excessive. With a shake of his head, Makishima takes a bite of the cookie. He'd like to wash it down with milk but unfortunately his drink is missing a key element, and so he taps at the lid to signal Tadokoro's attention.
Straw please. But he doesn't announce it and instead continues talking.]
...its been five days. Onoda still can't see.
no subject
But he pauses when he catches Makishima speaking again. Five days... That's far longer than he'd been expecting. It has him staring back at his friend incredulously.]
Still!? Goodness... [Tadokoro turns back to the cabinet, frowning rather mightily as he retrieves a straw. He shuts it and walks over, offering the small plastic.] What a mess... Think we could ask the landlord?
no subject
Before he lifts it up to his lips, his frown deepens at the suggestion, and his eyes narrow in contempt at the counter as he mumbles with a quiet yet intent sort of anger.]
I'm not asking that guy for anything. It's like begging for forgiveness even though Onoda's done nothing wrong. [This is some angry milk sipping going on right now. You don't mess with Onoda and get away with it.]
no subject
We need to figure out what did it, then. Maybe we can get it back.
no subject
Every time something like this happened, it only lasted for a day or so. If I knew it was going to be different this time then I... [He hangs his head low, running a hand through his hair, causing it to frame his face messily.]
I wouldn't have taken that competition so seriously. I shouldn't have tried so hard to get my team points. I should have helped him.
[Onoda might have lost his sight for good, and while he blames the Landlord, Maki also blames himself.]
no subject
[There's got to be a way. Of course, Onoda having glasses already meant his sight was slowly fading, but... he suspects something else is in play. Always does in this place, from what he's seen. With a soft sigh, he just walks over, setting a hand on Makishima's shoulder.]
Look. You didn't do anything--you couldn't have. No one knew what sort of tricks came from not getting a game's worth of dumb points. If his sight's gone for good, then... we just find ways to help him with it. Learn to read that dot-writin' with him, listen to Drama CD's, all that junk. He'll be okay.
[He looks up, and a heavy frown settles on his face.] I realize I'm talkin' out of my ass here but that's still what I think. Hell, I'll listen to all the Drama CD's with him, and we can describe all the characters to him, everything! You can pad the walls so he doesn't run into anythin' either. Lots of blind people are out there, they're still okay.
no subject
That's not-- [He pauses as he realizes that his tone is loud, and it's clear that he'd been about to yell at Tadokoro right at that second.] Don't say those things like it'd be that easy. He can't just be okay with it and deal! He's a climber! He can't ride anymore!
[Imagine an endless void of nothing at all sides no matter where you go. For a person it's a nightmare. For Makishima, it sounds like hell.
Climbing isn't just about the struggle to get to the top; it's the view once you get there that means the most. The highest point that no one other than you could ever reach. Winding roads that take you higher and higher, a steep slope that takes you further toward the end of the road that seems so close to your reach, the goal that you can't take your eyes off of.
Onoda might never see the view at the peak ever again, the beautiful sight where the road ends and the sky begins, the closest you'll ever get to touching the clouds. Now it's black. And it'll always be that way.
And it's all his fault. The corners of Makishima's eyes sting with tears.]
Tadokorocchi, he's a first year. He doesn't deserve this. It should have been me instead of him!
no subject
Shaking his head, he just reaches over to pull Makishima into a hug.]
Did you know about tandem bicycling? It's when a blind rider has a sort of... pilot, I think that's what they call them? Well, that person acts as their eyes. Usually it's one o' them two-seated bikes, but knowing us, we could probably just hook a rope onto his racer, get someone to ghost in front to make sure his bike doesn't sway.
Makishima, you losing your sight wouldn't help anyone either. It's not good, no, but there's always ways around it, okay?
[His grip tightens a little. You accept this comfort, you goof. Cry into this big bara bear of a bosom.] It will be okay. You know Onoda--he's resilient. Bet he'd probably still be able to coast up a mountain even without his sight because the kid's a damn miracle. Don't give up on him so easily.
no subject
Don't give up so easily. Don't lose your faith in him. They can do anything, Onoda can do anything, as long as they believe in each other. As long as they have each other's support.
And so Makishima stays silent, because there's nothing else for him to really say. Tadokoro's succeeded in making him feel pretty stupid for worrying so much. Of course it doesn't mean he's not still incredibly upset, so he just stands there against him and accepts the comfort even though he doesn't return the hug. He doesn't really think he can or that he even should, it'd make him feel too much like a child throwing a tantrum, which is how he feels at the moment. He can't believe he needed to be talked down out of his tirade.
He feels stupid, but now, he feels pretty good too. No one's actually done anything like this with him since Onoda went blind. Toudou's been supportive but in a different sort of way. Makishima doesn't know how Tadokoro does it, but the way he talks to him and offers simple yet blunt forms of encouragement is always... nice. For a realist like him, it's refreshing to be reminded that you don't always need to see a single result in everything. It's not always black and white.]
no subject
After all, they've always found ways around their issues. And Onoda, he's their little miracle child of the team, their amazing little otaku who's destined for greatness. Even if he's blind, he'll go somewhere. But he might also just be blind there--that doesn't limit his potential once they go home at all. Tadokoro isn't going to worry too much. Might plan how to punch the landlord in the face, but concern? Not so much.]
It'll be okay. Just hang on to that hope, okay? We'll figure this out.