LOG: She's a good samaritan [Prose] [Fran, Kyoko] [Closed]
WHO: Fran, Sasagawa Kyoko
WHAT: Fran's locked in his apartment! Kyoko to the rescue!
WHERE: In and out of apartments 2A and 2B.
WHEN: Sunday, Feb-15
RATING: G
WARNING(s): For awkward meetings, things thrown from window to window and um, cracky amounts of unecessary cute?
Fran pushed himself up onto his feet, feeling his stomach grumble a little as he trudged towards the fridge. He already knew there’d be nothing in it, his stock of instant noodles already long gone since his last meal the night before.
Two days. Two, days.
He sighed and glanced down at the doorknob in his other hand. Friday the 13th. Not exactly something he’d believed in, but for him to be locked in on that day someone up there had to be laughing.
Shutting the fridge he settled back down at his place by his door, swallowed his pride and tried again:
“Anyone there? Hey? Can anyone hear me? I’ve been stuck in here since Friday.”
With any luck, the other tenants who’d probably gone partying the day/night before would finally have the sense to come home.
Kyoko paused, keys in hand, in front of the door to her apartment. She’d been seconds away from opening it and heading inside, intending to drop her groceries on the counter and then make herself some tea, but...was her mind playing tricks on her, or did she just hear something?
She backtracked a few steps hesitantly, listening for anything more. She didn’t usually see much of her neighbors, and it was still relatively early on a Sunday morning - most people were sleeping in. Or, well. It was the Sunday after Valentine’s Day, after all.
“Hello?” Kyoko called out after a few more seconds of pondering, “...I’m not so tired as to be hearing things, am I?” she commented aloud, mostly to herself. “...Hello? Anyone there?”
“OhChristJesus, yes.”
Fran stumbled a little as he transferred his weight from his ass to his feet. Pressing his face close to the door he stood close to where the hinges lined one side. “U-um, good morning-” was it morning? “Hi, uh. I’m your neighbor. Exchange student from Italy. Um, I’ve been kind of stuck here since Friday.”
He paused, feeling his stomach churn, insisting again on food he didn’t have at the moment. “My doorknob kind of came off. Could you um, maybe, go call the superintendent?”
Kyoko almost dropped her bag. “Since Friday?! Oh, no - hold on!” She took a moment to fish her cell phone out of her purse, setting the groceries down next to her new neighbor’s stuck door.
“Okay...” the auburn-haired woman sighed, running a hand through her hair as she found the right number, and quickly put the phone up to her ear. “...Ah, Kotegawa-san? Yes, this is Sasagawa Kyoko from 2B...No, no, you see, I was just walking by 2A and my new neighbor’s doorknob fell off, he’s been stuck for two days now...
...What do you mean, ‘It’s too early for a-’...He’s your new tenant! ...Well, fine! I will!”
As the superintendent hung up, Kyoko’s heart sank. He’d always been rather unsympathetic to any problems that came up. Luckily, the apartment complex was still relatively new and most things were in working order.
“...Um...” Kyoko approached the door, leaning close to the between the wood and the wall, “...He’s kind of...busy. Any idea on how to open the door...that you haven’t already tried?”
Figures.
“Well I’d climb out the window but I’m not exactly interested in ending up as a stain on the sidewalk.” He knocked his forehead against the door about three times and winced as his stomach grumbled again.
“Was thinking of breaking the door down too, but considering what the contract said about damages to the property and my student loan not being much, that suggestion went down the drain fast.”
He went quiet for a bit at that.
“Stay calm, we’re going to get you out of there. You have enough food and water and stuff, right?” Kyoko asked, a small frown of worry forming on her face, “Oh! I’m Kyoko, by the way. I’m in 2B.”
Sighing, she sank down to sit next to the door, leaning against the outer wall. Thankfully, it was relatively warm and sunny for midday in February. But, to the problem at hand...how exactly did you get out of a room with a doorknob-less door?
“Hey - um. The doorknob fell off, but there’s still the...stem-thing, right?” she asked tentatively. She could vaguely recall Ryohei running into a problem like this before - although, she was pretty sure his doorknob had fallen off when he had actually just slammed the door too hard.
“Stem... thing?” Fran blinked, turning his head to the voice. “Oh, you mean the... yeah.” He chuckled wryly, though not as bitterly as he might have done. “Fran... from uh, well, 2A, clearly.” He leaned his head back against the door.
“Not much in way of food though, water yes. But not much for food. I uh,” he hesitated and was much inclined to kick himself. “I forgot to stock up on groceries.”
“...This is kind of a long shot, but you don’t have anything like pliers with you in there, do you? Or something similar?” He’d only just moved in, of course, so she didn’t really expect him to have anything like that just lying around. Where did he say he was from again?
“Do you think you can hang on a minute? I - oh! Your window is on the back wall, right? It faces in that direction?” Kyoko smiled, an idea popping into her head.
“What does my wall have to do-”
He hesitated to finish the sentence and decided to answer her question instead: “I think I might have something here. They’re really tiny pliers though...”
“Go open your window, okay? Ours should both be on the same wall, so I might be able to toss something to you...” Kyoko frowned again. Only small pliers? They needed something like the larger pliers Ryohei had with him when he helped her fix up the apartment...maybe he had left them around somewhere? It seemed like half of his stuff was in her apartment, anyways.
“I’m going into my apartment, okay? I’ll go straight to the window. Try and see if we can see each other?” Kyoko hurriedly picked up her grocery bag and went to her apartment, opening the door before she heard a response from her new neighbor. Luckily she didn’t have anything blocking the window, so she just set down the bag next to her and opened it to lean out. “...Fran?”
He’d already decided either his neighbor was ridiculously nice (something he was skeptical of people being) or completely nuts. Windows. Whatever she was up to, he was quietly praying it had nothing to do with climbing or jumping.
Fran set his teeny laptop down, ignoring the crazy comments by random people on the crazy network, he unfolded his long legs and walked tentatively to the window.
“H-hi?” He lifted his hand lamely. “Please don’t be inclined to suggest climbing out. Am... not really a fan of heights.”
“We’re on the second floor, so of course I wouldn’t suggest climbing out! I’m not a reckless kind of person,” Kyoko smiled, looking at her new neighbor for the first time. He looked younger than her, but not by much.
She disappeared into her apartment for a moment to peer into her bag of groceries - what could she give him, now that she’d thought of this?
After a moment of quick deliberation, she leaned out the window again, “I forgot to ask - you can catch, right?”
“C-catch?” Fran blinked, wondering where this was going. “Fairly well, yeah.” He peered at her sideways, suspicious. “Why...?”
“What do you think?” Kyoko grinned, “I hope you like fruit - I figure that it’s easier to catch, since it’s round? Apples?” She reached an arm down and pulled one out to show him, smiling. “I have some other things that can tide you over, I need to look for a bigger pair of pliers - I I think I have some around, but if you’re hungry, that comes first.”
Ridiculously nice. Possibly nuts, just possibly.
“I... I’m alright with fruit.” He stepped closer to the window and scratched the back of his head somewhat sheepishly. “It was... Kyoko, was it? Uh, thanks. Sure, just toss it over.”
“No problem,” she smiled again, tossing him the apple with a gentle underhand throw. Growing up with Ryohei definitely had its perks - she could throw as well as he could, though she didn’t have the brute strength he had. Ryohei hadn’t been into ball sports very long anyways, before he found boxing.
“Is two good for now?” she called over, another apple in her palm.
Fran caught the apple and brought it up for a sniff. Ridiculously nice, he decided. The fruit smelled really good. Crunch. Tasted even better.
He chewed and blinked up at his neighbor from across the expanse of air between their windows. “Mm gb wb nbm.”
Chew, chew, chew. Swallow.
“I meant,” he swallowed again and smiled sheepishly at Kyoko. “I’m actually good with just one.”
“All right,” Kyoko said, smiling again, “I’ll be right back, okay? Hopefully my brother left his pliers here last time he helped me fix up...I’m pretty sure he did, actually. Hang tight, this should be pretty quick!”
She flashed him another smile before she was inside again, glancing around before deciding where to start her search. Bathroom - no. He hadn’t helped with anything in her bedroom, so couldn’t be there...then, the kitchen? Kyoko grinned victoriously when, as she predicted, she found the pliers tucked away in her ‘kitchen tools’ drawer.
She’d only been gone a few minutes, and returning to the window, she held up the pliers for Fran to see. “Think you can catch these too?”
...
“Those are pretty mean looking pliers.” Big, metal, shiny and likely to either take a finger or an eye out if he so much as missed by a centimeter. “I... I think I’ll just take the apple?”
But freedom. So close. He thought and managed a feeble, mildly encouraging smile. “If I step out of the way feel free to just throw it through the window?”
“Very funny. You want to get out, don’t you?” Kyoko gave him what she thought was a reassuring smile. “Well, if you say so. Step out of the way, then? I have pretty good aim, but I don’t want to hit you!”
She gave him a minute to get out of the way, and took the time to roll up her sleeve and makes sure she couldn’t hit anything when she tossed over the pliers. “Ready? Here goes!” She hardened her grip on the handles before tossing them confidently across the way, hearing them land harshly and then skitter across the floor as they landed in Fran’s apartment.
Fran stepped away from checking the notifications popping up on his computer and retrieved the pliers from the floor. “Got them, thanks!” He called to Kyoko. “Lemme just... try to see what I can do about this. Um, door.”
“All right, let me know if you need anything, okay? I’m pretty sure that you can twist the stem-thing of the doorknob with the pliers, if the lock doesn’t get jammed or anything. Be careful, though! And tell me if you get hungry again!” She gave him a short wave before disappearing into her own apartment.
A noise from her booting laptop caught her attention - ah, the network. Well, if Fran didn’t need her help for the moment...
---
Miscellaneous Note:
+ Succeeding exchanges may be found in Fran's post.
WHAT: Fran's locked in his apartment! Kyoko to the rescue!
WHERE: In and out of apartments 2A and 2B.
WHEN: Sunday, Feb-15
RATING: G
WARNING(s): For awkward meetings, things thrown from window to window and um, cracky amounts of unecessary cute?
Fran pushed himself up onto his feet, feeling his stomach grumble a little as he trudged towards the fridge. He already knew there’d be nothing in it, his stock of instant noodles already long gone since his last meal the night before.
Two days. Two, days.
He sighed and glanced down at the doorknob in his other hand. Friday the 13th. Not exactly something he’d believed in, but for him to be locked in on that day someone up there had to be laughing.
Shutting the fridge he settled back down at his place by his door, swallowed his pride and tried again:
“Anyone there? Hey? Can anyone hear me? I’ve been stuck in here since Friday.”
With any luck, the other tenants who’d probably gone partying the day/night before would finally have the sense to come home.
Kyoko paused, keys in hand, in front of the door to her apartment. She’d been seconds away from opening it and heading inside, intending to drop her groceries on the counter and then make herself some tea, but...was her mind playing tricks on her, or did she just hear something?
She backtracked a few steps hesitantly, listening for anything more. She didn’t usually see much of her neighbors, and it was still relatively early on a Sunday morning - most people were sleeping in. Or, well. It was the Sunday after Valentine’s Day, after all.
“Hello?” Kyoko called out after a few more seconds of pondering, “...I’m not so tired as to be hearing things, am I?” she commented aloud, mostly to herself. “...Hello? Anyone there?”
“OhChristJesus, yes.”
Fran stumbled a little as he transferred his weight from his ass to his feet. Pressing his face close to the door he stood close to where the hinges lined one side. “U-um, good morning-” was it morning? “Hi, uh. I’m your neighbor. Exchange student from Italy. Um, I’ve been kind of stuck here since Friday.”
He paused, feeling his stomach churn, insisting again on food he didn’t have at the moment. “My doorknob kind of came off. Could you um, maybe, go call the superintendent?”
Kyoko almost dropped her bag. “Since Friday?! Oh, no - hold on!” She took a moment to fish her cell phone out of her purse, setting the groceries down next to her new neighbor’s stuck door.
“Okay...” the auburn-haired woman sighed, running a hand through her hair as she found the right number, and quickly put the phone up to her ear. “...Ah, Kotegawa-san? Yes, this is Sasagawa Kyoko from 2B...No, no, you see, I was just walking by 2A and my new neighbor’s doorknob fell off, he’s been stuck for two days now...
...What do you mean, ‘It’s too early for a-’...He’s your new tenant! ...Well, fine! I will!”
As the superintendent hung up, Kyoko’s heart sank. He’d always been rather unsympathetic to any problems that came up. Luckily, the apartment complex was still relatively new and most things were in working order.
“...Um...” Kyoko approached the door, leaning close to the between the wood and the wall, “...He’s kind of...busy. Any idea on how to open the door...that you haven’t already tried?”
Figures.
“Well I’d climb out the window but I’m not exactly interested in ending up as a stain on the sidewalk.” He knocked his forehead against the door about three times and winced as his stomach grumbled again.
“Was thinking of breaking the door down too, but considering what the contract said about damages to the property and my student loan not being much, that suggestion went down the drain fast.”
He went quiet for a bit at that.
“Stay calm, we’re going to get you out of there. You have enough food and water and stuff, right?” Kyoko asked, a small frown of worry forming on her face, “Oh! I’m Kyoko, by the way. I’m in 2B.”
Sighing, she sank down to sit next to the door, leaning against the outer wall. Thankfully, it was relatively warm and sunny for midday in February. But, to the problem at hand...how exactly did you get out of a room with a doorknob-less door?
“Hey - um. The doorknob fell off, but there’s still the...stem-thing, right?” she asked tentatively. She could vaguely recall Ryohei running into a problem like this before - although, she was pretty sure his doorknob had fallen off when he had actually just slammed the door too hard.
“Stem... thing?” Fran blinked, turning his head to the voice. “Oh, you mean the... yeah.” He chuckled wryly, though not as bitterly as he might have done. “Fran... from uh, well, 2A, clearly.” He leaned his head back against the door.
“Not much in way of food though, water yes. But not much for food. I uh,” he hesitated and was much inclined to kick himself. “I forgot to stock up on groceries.”
“...This is kind of a long shot, but you don’t have anything like pliers with you in there, do you? Or something similar?” He’d only just moved in, of course, so she didn’t really expect him to have anything like that just lying around. Where did he say he was from again?
“Do you think you can hang on a minute? I - oh! Your window is on the back wall, right? It faces in that direction?” Kyoko smiled, an idea popping into her head.
“What does my wall have to do-”
He hesitated to finish the sentence and decided to answer her question instead: “I think I might have something here. They’re really tiny pliers though...”
“Go open your window, okay? Ours should both be on the same wall, so I might be able to toss something to you...” Kyoko frowned again. Only small pliers? They needed something like the larger pliers Ryohei had with him when he helped her fix up the apartment...maybe he had left them around somewhere? It seemed like half of his stuff was in her apartment, anyways.
“I’m going into my apartment, okay? I’ll go straight to the window. Try and see if we can see each other?” Kyoko hurriedly picked up her grocery bag and went to her apartment, opening the door before she heard a response from her new neighbor. Luckily she didn’t have anything blocking the window, so she just set down the bag next to her and opened it to lean out. “...Fran?”
He’d already decided either his neighbor was ridiculously nice (something he was skeptical of people being) or completely nuts. Windows. Whatever she was up to, he was quietly praying it had nothing to do with climbing or jumping.
Fran set his teeny laptop down, ignoring the crazy comments by random people on the crazy network, he unfolded his long legs and walked tentatively to the window.
“H-hi?” He lifted his hand lamely. “Please don’t be inclined to suggest climbing out. Am... not really a fan of heights.”
“We’re on the second floor, so of course I wouldn’t suggest climbing out! I’m not a reckless kind of person,” Kyoko smiled, looking at her new neighbor for the first time. He looked younger than her, but not by much.
She disappeared into her apartment for a moment to peer into her bag of groceries - what could she give him, now that she’d thought of this?
After a moment of quick deliberation, she leaned out the window again, “I forgot to ask - you can catch, right?”
“C-catch?” Fran blinked, wondering where this was going. “Fairly well, yeah.” He peered at her sideways, suspicious. “Why...?”
“What do you think?” Kyoko grinned, “I hope you like fruit - I figure that it’s easier to catch, since it’s round? Apples?” She reached an arm down and pulled one out to show him, smiling. “I have some other things that can tide you over, I need to look for a bigger pair of pliers - I I think I have some around, but if you’re hungry, that comes first.”
Ridiculously nice. Possibly nuts, just possibly.
“I... I’m alright with fruit.” He stepped closer to the window and scratched the back of his head somewhat sheepishly. “It was... Kyoko, was it? Uh, thanks. Sure, just toss it over.”
“No problem,” she smiled again, tossing him the apple with a gentle underhand throw. Growing up with Ryohei definitely had its perks - she could throw as well as he could, though she didn’t have the brute strength he had. Ryohei hadn’t been into ball sports very long anyways, before he found boxing.
“Is two good for now?” she called over, another apple in her palm.
Fran caught the apple and brought it up for a sniff. Ridiculously nice, he decided. The fruit smelled really good. Crunch. Tasted even better.
He chewed and blinked up at his neighbor from across the expanse of air between their windows. “Mm gb wb nbm.”
Chew, chew, chew. Swallow.
“I meant,” he swallowed again and smiled sheepishly at Kyoko. “I’m actually good with just one.”
“All right,” Kyoko said, smiling again, “I’ll be right back, okay? Hopefully my brother left his pliers here last time he helped me fix up...I’m pretty sure he did, actually. Hang tight, this should be pretty quick!”
She flashed him another smile before she was inside again, glancing around before deciding where to start her search. Bathroom - no. He hadn’t helped with anything in her bedroom, so couldn’t be there...then, the kitchen? Kyoko grinned victoriously when, as she predicted, she found the pliers tucked away in her ‘kitchen tools’ drawer.
She’d only been gone a few minutes, and returning to the window, she held up the pliers for Fran to see. “Think you can catch these too?”
...
“Those are pretty mean looking pliers.” Big, metal, shiny and likely to either take a finger or an eye out if he so much as missed by a centimeter. “I... I think I’ll just take the apple?”
But freedom. So close. He thought and managed a feeble, mildly encouraging smile. “If I step out of the way feel free to just throw it through the window?”
“Very funny. You want to get out, don’t you?” Kyoko gave him what she thought was a reassuring smile. “Well, if you say so. Step out of the way, then? I have pretty good aim, but I don’t want to hit you!”
She gave him a minute to get out of the way, and took the time to roll up her sleeve and makes sure she couldn’t hit anything when she tossed over the pliers. “Ready? Here goes!” She hardened her grip on the handles before tossing them confidently across the way, hearing them land harshly and then skitter across the floor as they landed in Fran’s apartment.
Fran stepped away from checking the notifications popping up on his computer and retrieved the pliers from the floor. “Got them, thanks!” He called to Kyoko. “Lemme just... try to see what I can do about this. Um, door.”
“All right, let me know if you need anything, okay? I’m pretty sure that you can twist the stem-thing of the doorknob with the pliers, if the lock doesn’t get jammed or anything. Be careful, though! And tell me if you get hungry again!” She gave him a short wave before disappearing into her own apartment.
A noise from her booting laptop caught her attention - ah, the network. Well, if Fran didn’t need her help for the moment...
---
Miscellaneous Note:
+ Succeeding exchanges may be found in Fran's post.