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Teiji Takehashi

"It's not the people, it's the lights that I'll miss."

0 · 440 views · located in Katashina, Japan

a character in “Rain & Rice Patties”, as played by teacookies

Description

ImageImageImage
Takehashi, Teiji 】Image
x x x x x x x x x x x x xThe Urbanite


Teiji is self-absorbed in his own world; constructing walls to protect the deficiencies that weigh heavily on his mind and body. This kind of detachment happens most often when he feels like the world is turning against him; he feels the need to retreat back into his own mind and get away from what he calls the "vicious" claws of reality and its criticism directed at him. He doesn't like to admit defeats and failures, so he seeks comfort in the familiar confidence and identity of himself.

He takes the event of moving to Katashina as something that was restrictive, keeping his resources limited to what? Rice fields? Rolling clouds? As much as his health is his priority, the environment was something he refused to consider. But adaption was key to living here, and eventually he would have new faces to memorize, new people to throw stones to his glass house.

Why was his aim so lethal?



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x x x x x x xgreek tragedyImageImage x x




- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
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年齢:18
身長:176cm
体重:65kg
カラー:#d5123c


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x x x x x x x&fading starlight

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ImageThe conventional life escaped him as much as decent genetics. Born into a family of money, but rarely used it-- raised by a single woman in a city he rarely saw. He'd become familiar with the sterile walls of clinics and hospitals at a young age but it became less of a burden and more of an excuse to build his small world. A world where hardly anyone was let in, but he kept it that way for sanity; to feel like he was in control of something. Although his disorder restricted him from a lot of activities, school was not one of them. Eventually, it became less about his walls and more about- finding most people kind of boring. So, he often kept to himself, reading, the only hobby that he could keep consistent.

Near the beginning of his 3rd year, Teiji had gone six months without any infections or complications; a marvel feat even in sense of smaller cases. Life had almost seemed normal, or at least, a perception of normality, but his genetics reminded him of his deficiencies. Blissful peace only seemed run so long. With the transitional weather, an episode of legionnaires hospitalized him for a few weeks, causing him to drop from the coming semester. The spell of pneumonia was only the start of it, as the recovery had been the most demanding he suffered yet. But determined to graduate that year, he pleaded his case to his mother, and won it on the condition that it was continued at home, so it was. A win win, he thought. But once the weekly check ups, antibiotics and sleepless nights passed, an ultimatum was struck.

The city was something he took for granted; more of a showpiece he watched from a distance then something he actively interacted with. The city lights were his stars, and the people among it were falling rock in the vastness of it. He secretly desired to be a part of, but was afraid and found himself being pushed away by rationalities. But to be taken away from it because of his health only drew more resentment to it; to the new world he had to construct and the people he had to reanalyze.

Moving to Katashina would threaten the world he so carefully built.


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ImageImageLikes:
☐ yukino ☐ reading ☐ planners/organizers ☐ astronomy ☐ when he has enough air in his lunGs to run ☐ tea (hot or cold) ☐ teasing people he likes ☐ cardigans


Dislikes:
the cold/flu season ☐ alarm clocks, or any loud things really ☐ dirt ☐ failing set goals ☐ big dogs ☐ strong antiseptic smells ☐ the essential oils his mother swears by

Misc:
⬛ he moved to Katashina for his health; his mother made the decision after fully recovering a few months before arriving.
⬛ the woman in his life, his cousin and mother included, are the biggest influences.

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ImageImageRelations

ImageYUKINO(#20B2AA) ■ Teiji's Cousinx

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In between her semesters in the city, Yukino would spend time with Teiji and his mother. Being an only child, Teiji always saw Yukino as a sister-figure, someone he could relate to and confide in. She often challenged his way of thinking, and any bold strides she took was something he admired. He attributes any redeemable behaviour to her influence, and finds that she stands as one of the most important people in his life.


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ImageT, CHIZURU(#FFB6C1) ■ Teiji's Motherx

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As the sole proprietor of her family, Chizuru takes every aspect of Teiji and weighs it as one of her top priorities. A self-made woman whose inflated ego is only outweighed by the love she has for her son. Having Teiji at a young age, Chi finds herself latching onto any fleeting youth she has. By reason of this, she encourages her son to call her by her first name. Their relationship is more friendly then it is mother-son.


x

So begins...

Teiji Takehashi's Story

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Fujiawara, Kyou Character Portrait: Teiji Takehashi
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.25 INK

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x//❝ お い : TAKEHASHI, TEIJIxxxxxxx

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It had only been a week into their arrival, and it had been nothing but late-night whispers and awkward dinners. Chizuru, Teiji’s mother, rarely asked anything of anyone, a self-,made woman with more pride in her pinkie than anyone would have in their lifetime. Yet here there were, in a house which a third of it wanted them gone, and in town she’d swore to leave behind. That’s how much her son meant to her; to break promises she made to herself so that his lungs could have the air they deserved. A sacrifice that could perhaps rattle the strings to a puppet that had laid untouched for decades.

Katashina took pride in their traditions, as much as they held onto their omens.

━━


“This tradition is insane!” Yukino didn’t care how loud she was being; let the whole house know, the whole village matter of fact! She could feel the blood rush to her ears, the pit in her stomach turn into knots. Her parents tried to keep her at ease, begging her to lower her voice and after a few minutes, she managed to oblige.

Teiji had the comforter pulled over his head; the rural nights seeped through the cracks of his skin, chilling his bones despite the season. It barely muted the argument a few doors beside him, an arrangement that was accompanied by the symphony of night bugs that chirped in the dusk. This conversation was something the two of them wished to hide away in ignorance, something the cousins spoke about frequently after sneaking into each others room in the dead of night. Teiji remembered the fear in her eyes that she tried desperately to hide behind anger; she had both, but one certainly outweighed the other. There was nothing he could say to her that would soothe the wrinkles in her nerves, beside the absurd idea that they forgot the tradition all together. It’s hard to when your parents and those before them had to go through it too.

Did everyone resist, or were Yukino and his mother the outliers of the Takehashi’s?

“It’s for the betterment of this family. You can’t be selfish!” The rough edges of her mother’s voice spoke with a weighty traditionalism, as if her own life sat on the line. And in some ways, it certainly was. The village had prying, judgemental eyes that acted on the concept of transparency. Everyone had their perception of each other, all scaled by the configurations held for centuries. Honor was as much on her parents shoulder as it was Yukino’s.

With a ear pressed firmly against the back of his palm, Teiji knew that Yukino wasn’t going to go down without a fight. But family was everything to her, and even this betrayal was sometimes he knew she was scared to push back. Teiji felt he was prying eyes to an arrangement he wasn’t suppose to view, so he sat up when the voices picked up again. Perhaps this was the best time to take his mother’s offer, to explore the town and discover “new things”, whatever that meant. The village seemed like nothing rice paddies, and fresh air; I guess there was one good thing about it. So, he carefully pulled the screen door to his room open, his gear of socks, a shearling sweater and face mask stuffed neatly under his arm. He headed towards the backway, making sure his footing was soft once he reached the outer corridor. As he sat down on the edge of the engawa, he stringed the lace of his boots, taking one last time to look over his shoulder; the muffled tension was indistinguishable from the outside. These walls did a good job keeping secrets, as much as played the facade of the perfect family. He threw on his jacket and wrapped the bands behind his ears to secure the mask, taking to the town at the dead of night.

━━


What Teiji hated the most about relocating was how much his mother was right about the air. Even through the mask, he could feel the it wash over his lungs like fresh drink of water. He’d stop for a moment to drink it, the sensation of frosted h2O shocked his system in a good type of pain.

There was a thin fog that crept between the old buildings, a calling card to stay indoors until the fields beckon the people. It made it feel like a ghost town, even though speckle of lights could be seen from the road. The town was wrapped around, between and inside a small hill, lined by a path pathed in travel. Teiji found himself walking up the hill in spirals, watching the congregation of camphor trees come closer with every house that disappeared, every step he took. There was something almost luring about the trees, a small forest the locals left untouched for posterity reasons. In a lost span of time, he pulled down his mask under his chin, as a new smell of pine caught his lungs. He could see his breath, but there was something else that caught his attention.

A sound, something muffled but it was pitched enough that allowed him to catch long stretches of it. He couldn’t quite place it at first, perhaps the spirits wails could be heard deep in the country.


━━


His curiosity got the better of him, as Teiji found himself at the edge of the forest, identifying the location of the damned souls. Somewhere, between the brush of wild trees and animal-life, something was dying. He didn’t know what it was but at this point, he just wanted to put the damn thing out of its misery. Pressing his shoulder against a tree to release tension in his aches, he solely focused on the sound. It suddenly became clear that it wasn’t an animal-- it was far too, erratic, stretching in short bursts that seemed to stop abruptly, only to sound the same cord in a slightly, more hell-screeching. Whatever it was, Teiji still wanted it to die.

The sound was easy to follow, stagnant despite how deep it rang in the forest and it was only a matter of time before he identified it’s location. A boy, seemingly his age, stood in a small clearing, clearly rubbing two balloons together because there was no way he was using an instrument.

But surely enough, he was.

He stood there for a moment, almost in a state of disbelief. There was so much tension in the other boy’s brows, but his frustration seemed far beyond his horsestring. To spare his company, or perhaps himself of the failed allegro, he shot his voice from between the trees.

“Hey, what’s up with all the noise?”

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Fujiawara, Kyou Character Portrait: Teiji Takehashi
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

#, as written by cl.love
x//❝ お い : FUJIWARA, KYOUxxxxxxx

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It had been a normal day, really. Kyou had woken up at sunrise to find the world a white blanket, had spent the morning out in the garden copying online sheet music into his notebook while his family slept. As the fog burned off in the sun and the rest of the household awoke, Kyou hid his notebook away and took his usual role as the obedient firstborn son. He greeted his mother as she came out to make breakfast and let his father take the first of the coffee, carefully evaded his sister's attempts to kick in his shins under the table throughout the meal and tried not to let on that he was truly becoming frustrated with her stupid idea that they were at war. xx
His mother had left after breakfast to lead a hike throughout Katashina, and Kyou watched her speak quietly to his father about something he could tell had to do with him, if their not-so-well-hidden glances toward him were anything to go by. Kyou made no mention of the conversation to his father and his father gave no signs that he wanted to talk about it. As soon as their mother was out of the picture and their father was shut up in his office making phone calls, Mika mysteriously disappeared, and Kyou really couldn't care less what she was doing. xx
He'd headed out through the garden and up into the forest, following the small, barely visible trails that only a Katashina local should be following. While some would see every tree as identical to the next, Kyou knew the forest better than he sometimes felt he knew himself. The forest was the one place he could be himself, where no one could see him drawing the Sailor Scouts, or talking to himself, or playing the violin. The one place that he felt completely sheltered from the world, where he knew how to hide and run from all the people around him. xx
It had been a normal day, until he returned home at dinnertime and found his parents standing in the front hall, waiting for him with proud expressions that should have been encouraging, but only made Kyou feel nauseous. xx
"Darling, we have such wonderful news! The Takehashi family has offered up their daughter's hand in marriage!" xx
And just like that, the world came crashing down around Kyou. For the first time in a long time, he couldn't tell his parents how excited he was, couldn't pretend to be happy with their wishes, couldn't bring himself to follow what they thought was right. And so, instead of speaking his displeasure like a normal human being... he ran. xx
- - -

The winter air feels even colder as the sun goes down, grey clouds making it set faster. By the time Kyou has made it through the forest and to the tiny, abandoned shrine where he hides his violin, the sky is dark, and the breeze is cold. Kyou flops down onto the steps of the shrine and simply cries. Perhaps it is a childish thing to do, crying as an adult over something he's known would happen eventually, but somehow the promise of marriage had never felt so... real. On an idea, a possibility, a plan in his parents' heads that he'd one day get them to leave behind. Something he'd one day gain the confidence to defy, which clearly didn't happen. xx
Kyou cries until he finally feels too ridiculous to continue letting the emotions flow out. How stupid is this? Who gets so upset about getting married? That should be the most satisfying thing in this society. And for it to all be planned out, with no effort on his part, isn't that a dream? So need for dating experience and broken hearts! xx
No, he thinks, It's not what I want. But it's what my parents want, what they believe is good, what they'll accept of me... so I can't refuse, can I? Not if I want their approval. Not if I want everything to stay as is... He doesn't want everything to stay as is, because what it is now is pure misery, but change is far more terrifying, isn't it? xx
Kyou shoves down the nausea and his contradicting thoughts and debates going back home. He's a good twenty paces into the forest again when he realizes he's still holding his violin, and hey, here's the number one thing in his life that his parents think is truly useless. What better way to rebel than to play a song they hate? Kyou pulls out the instrument from its case in a clearing just off the path and, knowing no one will be around to hear him at this time of night, starts to play Bohemian Rhapsody, an American song his mother can't stand. xxx
It sounds terrible, but Kyou really isn't in the mood to care, so he plays loudly, scowling at nothing in particular. xx
"Hey, what’s up with all the noise?" Kyou jumps half a foot in the air and his bow slips, letting out a squeal that has even Kyou himself cringing as he whirls on whoever spoke. Surprisingly, it's not someone he recognizes- a tourist, most likely, though it seems pretty idiotic for a tourist to be walking in an unfamiliar forest at night by themselves. "I- I thought no one could hear me. Most people don't go out walking in the woods here at night..." xx
Kyou lowers his violin and puts it safely away in its case before turning to the redhead. "Who're you, anyway?" xx

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Fujiawara, Kyou Character Portrait: Teiji Takehashi
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

#, as written by cl.love
x//❝ お い : FUJIWARA & TAKEHASHIxxxxx

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Teiji pushed off one of the trees he was leaning against, noting the numbness in his fingertips, the chill on his exposed cheeks. He could feel the strange simulation of what he could probably best describe as television static flickering through his limbs. Teiji raised a brow to the startled rabbit, and without his doing, he started smiling faintly. “Hearing him play” felt like a understatement, but Teiji kept the urge to spew critiques under his tongue. Last thing Teiji wanted to do was kick the boy while he was down. He walked closer to the figure but made sure to keep his distance.

He understood the need of extra space when meeting strangers, especially in the woods at night.

I’m, Teiji.” Between words, he raised his mask over his mouth, feigning a cough to show it was in fact for medical reasons and not a poor excuse for a robbery disguise. “I think the better question is who plays a violin in the woods, in the middle of the night no less.” He stuffed both hands in his pocket, kicking a bit of dirt off his boots before drawing his eyes back to the rabbit.

I'm Kyou, nice to meet you.” Kyou replies blandly. “I play in the woods because my parents think music is a waste of time, and would have my head they knew I was a musician.” He snaps, a little (more than a little) on edge. “And I'm out here at night because I couldn't sleep.

Teiji almost tilted his head at the sentiment; suppose he wasn't surprised they were hesitant to let their children play music, perhaps even parents of the city would be so too. Had his mother not been a free spirit, maybe he'd share the feeling, so he just nodded, as if he understood the restriction. But he could see the frustration, the snap of his words, so he refused to push any further.

"
Well then, uh," He spun his finger at the violin case, "Let me help with it; Your forms all off." Teiji had never picked up a violin before, but with all the time he had to himself, he read, a lot. Whatever book his mother brought for him, it'd be done within a few days. He'd picked up odd tricks and tips along the way, only putting some of it to use, like knitting or how to throw a proper dart. Where would he need to know morse code? He'd hope to find out one day. But as she ran out of ideas on what to get him, she'd bring random subjects. Music was her personal favorite, one she still had a youthful grip onto.

"
First, you need to hold yourself properly." Teiji mimicked the stance, keeping his wrist straight and his shoulders relaxed. "A good posture will make changing chords much easier."

Kyou frowns at Teiji. “
I don't need advice from a stranger. I've been playing since I was in elementary school.” He says, clearly unwilling to take criticism from this tourist.

Teiji lowered his arms, drawing silence between the two of them. There was no way the last 10 minutes were a construct he’d made up for his own mental torture, the local was awful. “
Right, from what I heard, I swore you were playing with the wrong side of the bow.” He gestured to the case, “You know it’s the one with the strings, right?” Teiji didn’t know if it was the boy’s arrogance or the lingering whatever that sat on his shoulders, but he couldn’t help but criticize.

I'm just out of it today, alright? I don't need you to tell me how bad I was, I already know, and it was on purpose.” It really wasn't, but it's not Kyou had actually tried to play well. And Teiji doesn't need to know. “Now, if you don't mind, I'm going home, and you should too. It's cold out here and you look like you get sick easily.

Wow, it wouldn’t have been so rough if it wasn’t so painfully true. There was a lingering chill left by the local’s jeer, but he was more amused than he was hurt-- suppose he deserved that one didn’t he. Teiji laughed, releasing the tension in his jaw, he felt guilty for his earlier comment. “
I was just trying to help,” he added, “but it would have been nice to hear you play.Better, but he managed to hold back his tongue. Maybe he was right, maybe he should head back, but the mud under his shoes almost acted like glue, even if it was all in his mind.

Kyou stares at Teiji with uncertainty. If he were the female protagonist of a shoujo manga, surely he’d be blushing right now, because a handsome stranger is expressing interest in something that means a great lot to Kyou. Not that Teiji is handsome. By your average woman’s standards, maybe. Not his.

One day, perhaps.” He says, not really meaning it. It’s unlikely a tourist will be around long enough for Kyou to even see him again after tonight, much less long enough for him to have found a way through to his parents and convinced them music is good and not a waste of time. If that’s even likely to happen, which is something Kyou’s brain actively avoids thinking about. “Well, good night.

The invitation felt hollow, something you say out of courtesy, but it was one he genuinely wished to redeem one day. Perhaps it was a selfish thought, to have a performance all to yourself but that didn’t stop him. The thought alone beamed to his cheeks; thankful he had the mask to hide it away. “
I’ll be looking forward to it, have a good night.” Teiji waved off Kyou, perhaps a little too much excitement in his voice-- at least for him.

Teiji stood there for a moment, listening to the compression of brush as the local walked away, before suddenly realizing something. What part of the damn woods was he in anyways..? He was so hyper fixed on locating the noise, that he ran himself into a spatial maze. He looked around to see what he could only identify as mother nature’s copy and paste...He had no idea where he was.

Uh,, wait.” Panic, another slip of his tone. He reached out for Kyou before he got too far, slightly speed walking to catch up with him. “Would you mind if I joined you? At least back to the road.” Translation: lost. Completely and utterly so.

Kyou blanks. “
You’re lost, aren’t you.” He says, more as a statement than a question.

No.” Dead tone, only muffled lies.

Hm.” Wow. How mature. Without saying anything more, Kyou turns on his heel and starts on the path to town, gesturing behind him for Teiji to follow and not bothering to see if he would. The footsteps behind him said enough. When they finally make it to the edge of the forest, town now clearly in sight, the moon has shifted behind some clouds and Kyou’s grateful it happened only after they were out of the trees.

Well, town is that way,” He says, gesturing vaguely in the direction of town. “If you get lost again, just scream incoherently and eventually someone will come to retrieve your frozen corpse. Good night.

And with that, he heads for home, waving to Teiji with what he hopes is a reassuring smile.

"
t's been a pleasure.." His tone said otherwise, quietly, as if he didn't even care if Kyou caught it or not. The silence during their travel back thoroughly solidified the eighteen-year-old clown he made of himself, the local really knew how to rub it in. He made sure to wait a few minutes before taking into account the vague, yet insulting directions back to town. Perhaps there was something in the water that made the locals so… viciously bitter.

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Fujiawara, Kyou Character Portrait: Teiji Takehashi
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

#, as written by cl.love
x//❝ お い : FUJIWARA, KYOUxxxxxxx

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"It's been a pleasure..." Out of Teiji's sight, Kyou smiles at the lack of excitement in his tone, suggesting a very different opinion. Not that he'd be surprised if Teiji didn't like him- they didn't do anything but argue through their entire first meeting, and that generally means the two people involved aren't cut out to be best of friends forever. xx
For the first time ever - probably because of Teiji being a distraction, the jerk - Kyou actually reaches his house before he realizes his violin is still in his hands. He can feel his hands start to sweat because Oh God, this is not the time for his parents to discover he's been spending his winter vacation learning to play Brothers instead of preparing for university classes like he told them he was. "The forest helps me study better," he'd said, and there's a pretty decent chance the whole charade is gonna fall to pieces and his father is gonna smack him. xxx
"Oi," Still panicking internally, Kyou whips his head around to see his sister leaning halfway out her bedroom window, giving him that Look that he knows means she thinks he's being dumb. "Are you gonna sit there and panic until mother or father finds you, or are you gonna give me your dumb instrument and go face them like a man?" She says quietly, clearly trying not to alert their parents. It seems there is indeed a benefit to covering up for her when she sneaks out. "Shut up. Here. Take decent care with it, okay? It was expensive." Mika rolls her eyes as he passes the violin to her, but he can tell she makes an effort to pull it safely through the window. xx
Then she waves her hand dismissively and slides her window closed, shutters first. Kyou sighs in annoyance (and relief) and heads for the backside of the house, hoping to tiptoe into his own room unseen by his parents. xx
Of course, because Kyou seems to have the worst luck ever, it doesn't work. "Kyou, darling! Iw was worried, you ran off and I didn't know why or where you'd gone, are you alright? What happened?" His mother crows, hovering over him as he takes his shoes off and steps up onto the engawa. His father isn't in sight and from the way all the lights in the house are dimmed, Kyou assumes the man has already gone to sleep. A slight relief, to know that he won't have the man staring him down with that look of vague disappointment. "Kyou, darling?" xx
"I'm fine, mama. I just..." He pauses, not sure what to tell her. Certainly not the truth. "...what if she doesn't want to be with me? What if she hates me?" Admittedly, these are concerns he has. Surely both of them know there's little chance of them getting out of this arrangement, but how Hellish would it be if they had nothing in common and hated each other so much that they made their lives as a couple suffocating and just miserable? xx
Thankfully, Fujiwara Akiko is easily convinced, and she smiles softly at him as she pulls off his scarf and loops it over her arm. "Oh sweetheart, you're a kind and honest person." Ha. "You're a perfect gentleman. She would be wrong to turn you away. Yeah, because she'll be disowned if she does. Kyou wishes he could say. Instead he just nods to his mother, leaning down a little so she can peck him on the forehead before giving his scarf back to him and heading for her room, apparently satisfied with the explanation he'd given. Kyou counts it as a win, of sorts. He knows it wouldn't have been that easy if his father had been there also, demanding answers. xx
Kyou heads to his own room and debates retrieving his violin but ultimately decides against it, knowing Mika could hide it far better under her American-style bed than he could in his mostly-bared room with only a futon and desk as decoration. He falls asleep that night thinking about who the Takehashi daughter must be like, as if she were a high school fantasy rather than what feels like a death sentence. He imagines a small, studious girl with glasses (Suzuhara Izumiko, basically) and wonders if she feels just as done with it all as he does. xxxx