[Log] Tezuka, Mizuki -- Bathtime!
Who: Tezuka, Mizuki
What: Bathtime!
Where: Shared bathing facilities
When: Er...a couple weeks ago?
Warnings: Roses.
The scent of roses filled the air as Mizuki dissolved a satchet of scented bath salts in the gradually filling tub. Topping it off with a sprinkle of rose petals, Mizuki left the tap running and went to the shower area to get himself clean. He hummed to himself as he prepared for a relaxing evening in the hot water.
Not knowing that there was someone else in the bath area, Tezuka had claimed a shower for himself and was in the process of soaping himself up and relaxing after a long day when he noticed someone else. The humming was hard to ignore. “Good evening,” He said politely as he only gave a quick glance in the direction of the other mutant.
Blinking, Mizuki looked up from picking out a bottle of shampoo. “Ah, Tezuka-kun, good evening,” he greeted the other boy. He was slightly disappointed that he wouldn’t get the bathing area all to himself like he had planned, but there were worse companions to be had. Tezuka at least seemed like the kind of person who would enjoy a nice relaxing quiet bathtime. Mizuki was also a little curious about the elusive celebrity mutant who kept making headlines.
“I’m running the bath at the moment, so we can share the water later if you like,” he offered, while starting the lengthy process of washing his hair.
Tezuka thought he could place the voice and risked looking once more, this time a little longer, at his unexpected shower partner. He had left his glasses with his clothes and while he wasn’t blind, the details were a little fuzzy and took an extra moment to decipher. Still, he was able to place the mutant as Mizuki without too much trouble. “Thank you, Mizuki,” Tezuka said as he once again focused on his own shower. He had planned on just getting clean and returning back to his room. He had plenty of homework to do for both this school and his university that wasting time in the bath really wasn’t a wise option. He also lessened his chances of running across unsavoury or annoying individuals if he made his time in the shower area brief. But the temptation of relaxing in hot water and forgetting all his cares for a while was strong. And if Mizuki had already started the bath, then they wouldn’t have to wait for it.
“I think I might take you up on that offer. A bath sounds quite nice tonight,” Tezuka said after he was done debating with himself. He just hoped that Mizuki didn’t like to gossip as much as some as his other schoolmates.
The affirmative was a while in coming, seemingly taking a lot of deliberation. Perhaps Tezuka was just body-shy. He did seem like the type--quiet, well-behaved, proper… so Tezuka was either shy and retiring or secretly some sort of sadist, if Mizuki’s sisters’ favourite novels were to be believed. Mizuki rather thought the latter option was highly unlikely.
He smiled and nodded, even if Tezuka couldn’t see it. “You’re welcome~ I added a lot of relaxing bath oils and salts. Just the thing after a long day, nfufu.” He rinsed the last of the conditioner from his hair before picking up an impressively purple back scrubber. “Shall I wash your back, Tezuka-kun?”
Tezuka was still wondering what sort of salts and bath oils were added when he noticed something purple out of the corner of his eye and heard Mizuki’s question. Unsure if this was something Mizuki offered to everyone or if he was being hit on, Tezuka decided the best option was to politely decline. “Ah, I think I’ll be okay. Thank you anyway, Mizuki.”
So shy. Mizuki shrugged and made a conciliatory noise, not having expected Tezuka to agree in the first place, and just went back to scrubbing his own back. Tezuka’s own loss if he didn’t want to exfoliate. Mizuki saw no proper bathing tools in Tezuka’s shower basket.
Once he was satisfied with his own cleanliness, Mizuki wandered back over to the bath area and sank into the water with a sigh, turning off the tap.
Since Mizuki made no other attempts to get into his personal bubble or even really chat, Tezuka decided to follow through with his agreement for a dip in the tub. Tidying up his shower area, he headed to the bath and gingerly stepped into it before sinking fully into the water. He closed his eyes and took a nice deep cleansing breath as he felt himself relax a little for the first time in days. “Is this rose?” He asked as he took another breath, this time picking up on the delicate and lovely floral scent of the bath water. He then noticed a few petals floating by close to him and gave a soft almost smile. They seemed so out of place in the shared bathroom of male teenaged mutants but it was something Tezuka appreciated.
“Mmmhmm,” Mizuki burbled contentedly, by way of reply. He had leaned back far enough that his head was barely out of the water, letting the warmth wash over his neck and shoulders. “It’s rose and some other essential oils. Isn’t it nice? People are usually in too big of a hurry to properly enjoy a bath. It’s a shame, when it can make such a difference in mood~” Mizuki also did most of his thinking in the bath. The steam was very conducive to thought processes, particularly in the allergy-filled spring months.
“Quite nice,” Tezuka agreed. “And I admit, I’m usually one of those people who are in too much of a hurry.” But he could admit, at least to himself, that he needed this break to just relax and not think about power practices, homework or aggravating students.
“It’s beneficial to slow down for a few moments sometimes, for both mental and physical health,” Mizuki remarked. Was Tezuka’s high-stress lifestyle the reason why the other boy sometimes looked like he was nearing 40 instead of 20? What was he so busy with, anyway? Mizuki wondered, whimsically, if Tezuka went on secret moonlit rescue missions, and had to hide a chuckle.
“You may right. I’m feeling better already,” Tezuka said. He leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes for a moment. He really did have to find some time for more moments like this.
“You do look like you needed a break,” Mizuki chuckled. “Your shoulders were so tense it was almost like you were trying to fuse your shoulderblades together. It looks like my bath mixture is helping, though~”
“Did I really look so tense?” Tezuka thought he had been doing a good job of keeping things to himself and putting on a public image of togetherness. But he supposed the last couple of weeks had been especially stressful.
“Well not your facial expression…” said Mizuki, idly moving his arms around under the water. Tezuka really didn’t have much of one, ever, anyway. “It was more of...body language, I suppose? It seems like you had a tiring week.”
“It was a bit tiring… Going from the internship to classes was more difficult than I expected.” And the less said about his experiences with the internship the better. He still had to fight the urge to turn beet red when he thought about the mishaps that had occurred during it. It also was a stark reminder about how much work he had ahead of him in his power training before he could pursue his other goals more seriously.
“Oh? Was the internship a bad or exhausting experience and you needed a break after that, or was it the transition?” Mizuki asked. Taki had mentioned his internship being quite boring, so he couldn’t imagine the others would have anything too taxing, either. He hadn’t met anyone who was honestly thrilled with their work experience, come to think of it.
“Both,” Tezuka said simply. Division 6 didn’t get the easy, if boring, desk jobs like many others but seemed to have gotten stuck with various projects outdoors helping to clear up messes and build simple things. He still couldn’t think of the road clean up on the mountain without feeling a great sense of shame and embarrassment. “How was your internship?” He asked in the hope that Mizuki wouldn’t ask for details on his own.
Hmm...It sounded like Tezuka had experienced some trauma. Mizuki wondered if he could find out what happened from people who shared the same internship assignment. “Mm, I didn’t sign up for an internship,” he replied. “I helped out at home for the summer. I was planning to see if I could find internships in the winter, but from what everyone has been telling me, it doesn’t seem to be a good idea.”
“Ah,” Tezuka said. He had just assumed, and wrongly so, that Mizuki had participated in the summer internship. “The internship was not without any benefits but it was not as beneficiary as I had hoped.” He had met some interesting people and made some contacts in the agency but overall he felt his time could have been better spent getting head of his studies and focusing on his power practice.
“Mmm… from what I’ve gathered it’s the first time they’ve organised internships so I suppose there were bound to be kinks,” Mizuki said thoughtfully. “At least it was not a complete waste of your time!” Then again, Tezuka seemed to be the kind of person who would attempt to make a learning experience out of any situation. He sighed a little. How old was this boy really. Fifty?
“They certainly have a few things to work out before the next time then,” Tezuka said. “While I don’t think any of us expected to be working on the front lines or on our own. It would have been nice to have gotten some real practical experience or at least to have been privy to standing in to observe.” He had been put out to find that his internship was nothing more than a make work program for them but he tried to maintain a positive outlook. He felt it not only helped to motivate himself to try his best but would help others around him do the same.
Tezuka really did not have a good time at his internship, Mizuki thought wryly. “There’s the frown line again,” he joked (not like he could really tell from one expression to the next). “Let’s not talk about such stressful things, then. It’s a shame it didn’t go better than it did, but just forget about it for now, nfufu~”
Tezuka did frown then at the mention of a frown line but as he agreed that more pleasant topics were better he decided not to complain about the comment. “Then what things should we talk about?” Tezuka asked. He had a feeling that Mizuki was not the type to find discussions on fishing and mountain climbing relaxing.
Mizuki shrugged. “Anything you would like~” he said, leaning back a little and playing with a rose petal that had floated his way. “You seem like the sort who likes reading. Any favourite books?” Mizuki thought it was a bit hard to tell just from looking what sort of books Tezuka liked. Perhaps nonfiction? Classics? ‘How-to’ informational manuals? Mizuki thought perhaps practical things like guidebooks on various topics. He looked at Tezuka expectantly, wanting to know if his guess was correct.
‘I do enjoy reading though I’ve not had time for much reading for pleasure recently,” Tezuka admitted. Though he had been busy reading other books for school and other studies. “Lately, I’ve been studying English and German. Do you have any interest in them?” Perhaps he and Mizuki could converse a little if he did.
“While I do love studying languages, I’m afraid I don’t know much German,” Mizuki said regretfully. “I can speak French and Spanish, though, and my English is passably fluent. Perhaps you would like to converse in English, for practice, sometime?” Now this was interesting. Tezuka was rumoured to come to the language club gatherings from time to time but he was hardly a regular. Mizuki wondered how fluent he was in those foreign languages.
Tezuka was impressed. He may have judged Mizuki a little unfairly as the number of languages the other spoke surprised him more than it should have. “I always appreciate any practice in English or German I can get. So the offer is appreciated,” He said politely. He would ideally like to get to the language club more to practice but it often conflicted with the judo club or his extra classes for power training.
“You should join me for tea sometime,” Mizuki suggested, always on the lookout for new guests for his civilised afternoon teatimes. “We can practice then, in a conducive and quiet environment.” He hoped his phrasing would make it sound more attractive to Tezuka.
“Atsushi did mention enjoying your tea,” Tezuka said as he thought about his roommate from last year. The tiger shifter seemed to know everyone in the school quite well. Though Tezuka suspected that having more free time helped with one’s ability to socialize.
“I certainly hope he does,” Mizuki laughed. “He’s been joining me for tea since junior high~ Perhaps he can take you when he comes, next time.” It might make Tezuka more comfortable, since he did like Atsushi and would at least have someone to help him initiate conversation.
“That could be nice. It’s been a while since we’ve talked,” Tezuka said. He couldn’t say he missed everything about being a roommate with Atsushi but considering the many other people he could have been placed with, Atsushi was wonderful. Tezuka appreciated his tidiness and his ability to be quiet and study when needed. And he also rather enjoyed giving him ear scratches when the other was in tiger form. Though he wouldn’t be completely adverse to petting one of his new roommates and since Atobe and Oishi were friends, he felt he had lucked out again with his roommates. “Who are you rooming with this year, Mizuki?” Tezuka asked while thinking about it.
The corner of Mizuki’s eye twitched, almost imperceptibly. “Niou-kun,” he replied. “And...Akutsu.” The less said about the latter, the better, even if he was becoming slightly more tolerable of late. Clearing his throat, he added, “I’ll look forward to you two joining me for tea then.
Tezuka knew it was rude and possibly a little out of character for his perceived image but he couldn’t help but chuckle at Mizuki’s misfortune. While he’d only heard stories of how horrible a character Akutsu could be, he had some first hand experience on dealing with Niou on a regular basis due to his and Atsushi’s relationship. The first day at school, Niou had given him false directions and invited him in for a threesome with his new roommate. “Does Niou still have a tendency to remove nearly all of his clothes and lounge around while being far too familiar?”
“Mm? Niou-kun doesn’t bother me all that much,” Mizuki said, lifting one shoulder in a vague shrug. “He does tend towards nudism, but it is not offensive. Besides, it almost seems as if Atsushi distracts him enough so he’s not spending lengthy amounts of time in the room.” Akutsu on the other hand… uncouth, unhygenic, smoked like a chimney stack… belatedly, Mizuki blinked. Tezuka had chuckled.
… “You are laughing at me?” he said incredulously, sounding more startled than offended.
Tezuka immediately schooled his features back to the stoic look though he was still amused. “My apologies, Mizuki-kun. It was rude of me to laugh at your misfortunes.” He would not want to room with either of them let alone both. But somehow he felt that at least Akutsu felt the same, Tezuka wasn’t willing to guess what Niou felt about it or anything for that matter. He also felt it best to not mention that Atsushi and Niou were probably out of the room often looking for privacy and not because they wanted to to be nice to Mizuki.
“Well! It’s good to know at least you can laugh,” Mizuki said good-naturedly. While a little miffed that his situation was that laughable, he didn’t mind it too much when it was Tezuka, who was quite possibly one of the least offensive people on the planet. “I’ve been hearing rumours that your serious expression is permanently glued on your face~” If Tezuka was going to laugh at him, well, then Mizuki would do the same.
“Is that so?” Tezuka asked and his face schooled back to his usual stoic expression, even though he was still rather amused. “Perhaps people shouldn’t believe everything they hear.” Or read on Fuji’s blasted website. Really, if people wanted to see him with different expressions they only had to watch him suffer through one of his power training classes or any time his powers got away from him.
“You should hear all the gossip going on around the school about you, Tezuka-kun,” Mizuki said. “One can’t go five steps without overhearing something about your heroic deeds or endearing habits.” Alright, perhaps that was a little bit of an exaggeration, but not by much. Mizuki hadn’t visited the infamous fanpage himself, but he often heard the girls in his classes talking about it.
Tezuka felt his face heating up at the thought of people gossiping about him that much and looked down at the rose petals floating past him in the bath to try and hide it. He supposed he could blame the heat if Mizuki did notice any colour to his cheeks. “I’m sure most if not all of it has been greatly exaggerated,” Tezuka said. A part of him was curious to what Mizuki had heard but the larger part was quite happy to live in ignorance.
Oh, the poor boy was blushing! How adorable. Mizuki chuckled to himself, but decided to spare Tezuka the embarrassment of having it pointed out. “Oh? So you don’t regularly rescue stranded kittens and drowning puppies?” he asked. “Or train your abilities 15 hours a day to be better able to save people? Rescue damsels jumping off buildings?”
Tezuka was right, ignorance was better. The list of great things he supposedly was doing made him frown. Study 15 hours a day? Did nobody think that he might want to eat, sleep or most importantly study? Not that Tezuka wouldn’t practice his powers for that long if he had the time, it was important for him to master control over his powers, after all. “I’m afraid only one of those are true and only barely,” Tezuka said. He didn’t make it a habit to save cats and the one time he tried the cat fled before he could complete the saving but it was the most true out of the list.
“The damsel rescue?” suggested Mizuki jokingly. “Ah, and there are these conspiracy theories that you’re genetically engineered for the purpose of becoming Japan’s national hero...or something. Apparently your given name is ‘evidence’ of that.” Mizuki had been very amused when he overheard that such a topic was being discussed on online forums.
“I’m what?” Tezuka said, surprise showing on his face as he looked over at Mizuki. He really missed the small shield his glasses offered him. It would have dimmed some of the surprise from his eyes. He quickly schooled his features though, ridiculous rumours were nothing to get worked up over. “I assure you, my parents did not have me genetically engineered. And I don’t make it a hobby to rescue people, damsels or not.” Would he have to risk going on his ‘fan site’ just to keep himself abreast of the rumours around him? He’d hate to be caught off guard by any of them again.
Mizuki was really enjoying this conversation more and more. Tezuka had surprisingly entertaining reactions if one caught him off guard enough. “I certainly don’t believe that sort of gossip,” he said with a shrug. “Your legion of fans, on the other hand...you might have to make an official announcement if you really want to disabuse them of the notion. Rumours are often so much more exciting than the truth, after all~”
Legions of fans? Tezuka repeated the words in his head and they still didn’t fully compute. Surely Mizuki was teasing him again. “I don’t want to encourage them by making official announcements. I would like to remain a private citizen if possible,” Tezuka said. He took a deep breath and tried to relax back into the hot water, it would be a shame if this conversation undid all the calming effects of the rose scented bath.
Poor Tezuka seemed quite overwhelmed by Mizuki’s revelations. Did he have no idea how much he was talked about by others? Or perhaps he just did not wish to acknowledge it. “Well, then the rumours will just get wilder and wilder,” Mizuki pointed out. “Perhaps what you need is someone to handle public relations for you!” And Mizuki would be the best person for PR, thought Mizuki to himself.
Mizuki sounded far too excited about the thought of Tezuka getting someone to handle PR that Tezuka forced his eyes open to look over at him. Not that he could see him that well between his lack of glasses and the steam from the bath. “I’d just like to be a normal university student and focus on my studies.” And to master his powers but he liked to think that went without saying.
“Oh well,” Mizuki sighed, slightly disappointed even though he hadn’t really expected Tezuka to agree. “I suppose you can try. Unfortunately as mutants it is a bit difficult. Well if you ever change your mind, I would be happy to help~ It might just make your life easier in the long run if you don’t have to deal with all the attention yourself.”
“I feel I’ve been doing a good job so far,” Tezuka said. He had been wonderfully ignorant of plenty of things before Mizuki decided to share them. And while he wanted to do enough research to stay on top of what was being said about him now, he figured it would still be easy enough to carry on as normal. Or as normal as it ever got at this school.
“Mmhmm, that’s because we’re sheltered from the outside world here at the school,” Mizuki pointed out, poking at a rose petal that was drifting by. “Once you are out in society, all it would take is another of your heroic incidents to shift all attention back on you.”
“But by then I’ll have learned control and will hopefully be able to limit such circumstances,” Tezuka said. Tough he wondered if he would really be able to stop himself from wanting to help out in situations where people were in need. But if he had control of his powers, he’d at least be able to help in more subtle ways.
Mizuki raised an eyebrow. “Hopefully,” he echoed. Tezuka was quite optimistic. Mizuki rather thought the heroic deed business was habit that was probably very hard to kick. “Oh well. I suppose that is somewhat far away to think about,” he said. Might as well let Tezuka enjoy what was left of his relaxing bath.
“Not too far,” Tezuka said. It was a rather optimistic declaration as he’d yet to make any vast improvement on his power controls but he felt this semester would be better. And as soon as he could control his powers to a satisfactory degree he planned on returning to his university in Tokyo and going back to his boring pre-law student life.
“You’re very goal-oriented, Tezuka-kun,” Mizuki observed. It seemed as if Tezuka had some kind of carefully thought out future plan, already, which made him a little envious. It wasn’t like Mizuki hadn’t thought about potential careers, but it was difficult to factor in his powers and the inconveniences (or otherwise) that they might bring.
Eventually, Mizuki found his mind wandering, and he wondered how long he’d been silent and spacing out. “Mm...I think I might be done with my bath,” he told Tezuka. “Why don’t you stay and relax as long as you like?”
Tezuka was going to ask if Mizuki had goals, too but felt it would be overstepping the boundaries of their non-existent friendship. When Mizuki moved to leave, Tezuka gave a nod and stood, too. “As tempting as it may be, I’ve soaked long enough. I have other things I need to take care of tonight.” Those stacks of papers wouldn’t read and write themselves afterall. Not to mention he still had to log another thirty minutes of practice with his metal blocks before he could consider all of his power practice done for the day.
“Don’t work too hard, Tezuka-kun,” Mizuki said as he drained the bath and tidied up after himself. That was the one annoying thing about these baths...scooping up all the flower petals afterward. It’d been more than worth it though, to get some personal insight on the elusive Tezuka Kunimitsu. He nodded and smiled at Tezuka as he wrapped a bathrobe around himself. “Well, I’ll see you at tea, then~” Mizuki was already looking forward to it.
Tezuka made a vague sound of agreement and nodded his head before turning his focus to drying off and getting dressed. His bathtime with Mizuki had been unexpectedly pleasant, even with Mizuki’s desire to always talk and ask questions. But now he had to focus once again on homework and power practice. So smelling, faintly of roses, he headed back to his room to get started on all of his work.
What: Bathtime!
Where: Shared bathing facilities
When: Er...a couple weeks ago?
Warnings: Roses.
The scent of roses filled the air as Mizuki dissolved a satchet of scented bath salts in the gradually filling tub. Topping it off with a sprinkle of rose petals, Mizuki left the tap running and went to the shower area to get himself clean. He hummed to himself as he prepared for a relaxing evening in the hot water.
Not knowing that there was someone else in the bath area, Tezuka had claimed a shower for himself and was in the process of soaping himself up and relaxing after a long day when he noticed someone else. The humming was hard to ignore. “Good evening,” He said politely as he only gave a quick glance in the direction of the other mutant.
Blinking, Mizuki looked up from picking out a bottle of shampoo. “Ah, Tezuka-kun, good evening,” he greeted the other boy. He was slightly disappointed that he wouldn’t get the bathing area all to himself like he had planned, but there were worse companions to be had. Tezuka at least seemed like the kind of person who would enjoy a nice relaxing quiet bathtime. Mizuki was also a little curious about the elusive celebrity mutant who kept making headlines.
“I’m running the bath at the moment, so we can share the water later if you like,” he offered, while starting the lengthy process of washing his hair.
Tezuka thought he could place the voice and risked looking once more, this time a little longer, at his unexpected shower partner. He had left his glasses with his clothes and while he wasn’t blind, the details were a little fuzzy and took an extra moment to decipher. Still, he was able to place the mutant as Mizuki without too much trouble. “Thank you, Mizuki,” Tezuka said as he once again focused on his own shower. He had planned on just getting clean and returning back to his room. He had plenty of homework to do for both this school and his university that wasting time in the bath really wasn’t a wise option. He also lessened his chances of running across unsavoury or annoying individuals if he made his time in the shower area brief. But the temptation of relaxing in hot water and forgetting all his cares for a while was strong. And if Mizuki had already started the bath, then they wouldn’t have to wait for it.
“I think I might take you up on that offer. A bath sounds quite nice tonight,” Tezuka said after he was done debating with himself. He just hoped that Mizuki didn’t like to gossip as much as some as his other schoolmates.
The affirmative was a while in coming, seemingly taking a lot of deliberation. Perhaps Tezuka was just body-shy. He did seem like the type--quiet, well-behaved, proper… so Tezuka was either shy and retiring or secretly some sort of sadist, if Mizuki’s sisters’ favourite novels were to be believed. Mizuki rather thought the latter option was highly unlikely.
He smiled and nodded, even if Tezuka couldn’t see it. “You’re welcome~ I added a lot of relaxing bath oils and salts. Just the thing after a long day, nfufu.” He rinsed the last of the conditioner from his hair before picking up an impressively purple back scrubber. “Shall I wash your back, Tezuka-kun?”
Tezuka was still wondering what sort of salts and bath oils were added when he noticed something purple out of the corner of his eye and heard Mizuki’s question. Unsure if this was something Mizuki offered to everyone or if he was being hit on, Tezuka decided the best option was to politely decline. “Ah, I think I’ll be okay. Thank you anyway, Mizuki.”
So shy. Mizuki shrugged and made a conciliatory noise, not having expected Tezuka to agree in the first place, and just went back to scrubbing his own back. Tezuka’s own loss if he didn’t want to exfoliate. Mizuki saw no proper bathing tools in Tezuka’s shower basket.
Once he was satisfied with his own cleanliness, Mizuki wandered back over to the bath area and sank into the water with a sigh, turning off the tap.
Since Mizuki made no other attempts to get into his personal bubble or even really chat, Tezuka decided to follow through with his agreement for a dip in the tub. Tidying up his shower area, he headed to the bath and gingerly stepped into it before sinking fully into the water. He closed his eyes and took a nice deep cleansing breath as he felt himself relax a little for the first time in days. “Is this rose?” He asked as he took another breath, this time picking up on the delicate and lovely floral scent of the bath water. He then noticed a few petals floating by close to him and gave a soft almost smile. They seemed so out of place in the shared bathroom of male teenaged mutants but it was something Tezuka appreciated.
“Mmmhmm,” Mizuki burbled contentedly, by way of reply. He had leaned back far enough that his head was barely out of the water, letting the warmth wash over his neck and shoulders. “It’s rose and some other essential oils. Isn’t it nice? People are usually in too big of a hurry to properly enjoy a bath. It’s a shame, when it can make such a difference in mood~” Mizuki also did most of his thinking in the bath. The steam was very conducive to thought processes, particularly in the allergy-filled spring months.
“Quite nice,” Tezuka agreed. “And I admit, I’m usually one of those people who are in too much of a hurry.” But he could admit, at least to himself, that he needed this break to just relax and not think about power practices, homework or aggravating students.
“It’s beneficial to slow down for a few moments sometimes, for both mental and physical health,” Mizuki remarked. Was Tezuka’s high-stress lifestyle the reason why the other boy sometimes looked like he was nearing 40 instead of 20? What was he so busy with, anyway? Mizuki wondered, whimsically, if Tezuka went on secret moonlit rescue missions, and had to hide a chuckle.
“You may right. I’m feeling better already,” Tezuka said. He leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes for a moment. He really did have to find some time for more moments like this.
“You do look like you needed a break,” Mizuki chuckled. “Your shoulders were so tense it was almost like you were trying to fuse your shoulderblades together. It looks like my bath mixture is helping, though~”
“Did I really look so tense?” Tezuka thought he had been doing a good job of keeping things to himself and putting on a public image of togetherness. But he supposed the last couple of weeks had been especially stressful.
“Well not your facial expression…” said Mizuki, idly moving his arms around under the water. Tezuka really didn’t have much of one, ever, anyway. “It was more of...body language, I suppose? It seems like you had a tiring week.”
“It was a bit tiring… Going from the internship to classes was more difficult than I expected.” And the less said about his experiences with the internship the better. He still had to fight the urge to turn beet red when he thought about the mishaps that had occurred during it. It also was a stark reminder about how much work he had ahead of him in his power training before he could pursue his other goals more seriously.
“Oh? Was the internship a bad or exhausting experience and you needed a break after that, or was it the transition?” Mizuki asked. Taki had mentioned his internship being quite boring, so he couldn’t imagine the others would have anything too taxing, either. He hadn’t met anyone who was honestly thrilled with their work experience, come to think of it.
“Both,” Tezuka said simply. Division 6 didn’t get the easy, if boring, desk jobs like many others but seemed to have gotten stuck with various projects outdoors helping to clear up messes and build simple things. He still couldn’t think of the road clean up on the mountain without feeling a great sense of shame and embarrassment. “How was your internship?” He asked in the hope that Mizuki wouldn’t ask for details on his own.
Hmm...It sounded like Tezuka had experienced some trauma. Mizuki wondered if he could find out what happened from people who shared the same internship assignment. “Mm, I didn’t sign up for an internship,” he replied. “I helped out at home for the summer. I was planning to see if I could find internships in the winter, but from what everyone has been telling me, it doesn’t seem to be a good idea.”
“Ah,” Tezuka said. He had just assumed, and wrongly so, that Mizuki had participated in the summer internship. “The internship was not without any benefits but it was not as beneficiary as I had hoped.” He had met some interesting people and made some contacts in the agency but overall he felt his time could have been better spent getting head of his studies and focusing on his power practice.
“Mmm… from what I’ve gathered it’s the first time they’ve organised internships so I suppose there were bound to be kinks,” Mizuki said thoughtfully. “At least it was not a complete waste of your time!” Then again, Tezuka seemed to be the kind of person who would attempt to make a learning experience out of any situation. He sighed a little. How old was this boy really. Fifty?
“They certainly have a few things to work out before the next time then,” Tezuka said. “While I don’t think any of us expected to be working on the front lines or on our own. It would have been nice to have gotten some real practical experience or at least to have been privy to standing in to observe.” He had been put out to find that his internship was nothing more than a make work program for them but he tried to maintain a positive outlook. He felt it not only helped to motivate himself to try his best but would help others around him do the same.
Tezuka really did not have a good time at his internship, Mizuki thought wryly. “There’s the frown line again,” he joked (not like he could really tell from one expression to the next). “Let’s not talk about such stressful things, then. It’s a shame it didn’t go better than it did, but just forget about it for now, nfufu~”
Tezuka did frown then at the mention of a frown line but as he agreed that more pleasant topics were better he decided not to complain about the comment. “Then what things should we talk about?” Tezuka asked. He had a feeling that Mizuki was not the type to find discussions on fishing and mountain climbing relaxing.
Mizuki shrugged. “Anything you would like~” he said, leaning back a little and playing with a rose petal that had floated his way. “You seem like the sort who likes reading. Any favourite books?” Mizuki thought it was a bit hard to tell just from looking what sort of books Tezuka liked. Perhaps nonfiction? Classics? ‘How-to’ informational manuals? Mizuki thought perhaps practical things like guidebooks on various topics. He looked at Tezuka expectantly, wanting to know if his guess was correct.
‘I do enjoy reading though I’ve not had time for much reading for pleasure recently,” Tezuka admitted. Though he had been busy reading other books for school and other studies. “Lately, I’ve been studying English and German. Do you have any interest in them?” Perhaps he and Mizuki could converse a little if he did.
“While I do love studying languages, I’m afraid I don’t know much German,” Mizuki said regretfully. “I can speak French and Spanish, though, and my English is passably fluent. Perhaps you would like to converse in English, for practice, sometime?” Now this was interesting. Tezuka was rumoured to come to the language club gatherings from time to time but he was hardly a regular. Mizuki wondered how fluent he was in those foreign languages.
Tezuka was impressed. He may have judged Mizuki a little unfairly as the number of languages the other spoke surprised him more than it should have. “I always appreciate any practice in English or German I can get. So the offer is appreciated,” He said politely. He would ideally like to get to the language club more to practice but it often conflicted with the judo club or his extra classes for power training.
“You should join me for tea sometime,” Mizuki suggested, always on the lookout for new guests for his civilised afternoon teatimes. “We can practice then, in a conducive and quiet environment.” He hoped his phrasing would make it sound more attractive to Tezuka.
“Atsushi did mention enjoying your tea,” Tezuka said as he thought about his roommate from last year. The tiger shifter seemed to know everyone in the school quite well. Though Tezuka suspected that having more free time helped with one’s ability to socialize.
“I certainly hope he does,” Mizuki laughed. “He’s been joining me for tea since junior high~ Perhaps he can take you when he comes, next time.” It might make Tezuka more comfortable, since he did like Atsushi and would at least have someone to help him initiate conversation.
“That could be nice. It’s been a while since we’ve talked,” Tezuka said. He couldn’t say he missed everything about being a roommate with Atsushi but considering the many other people he could have been placed with, Atsushi was wonderful. Tezuka appreciated his tidiness and his ability to be quiet and study when needed. And he also rather enjoyed giving him ear scratches when the other was in tiger form. Though he wouldn’t be completely adverse to petting one of his new roommates and since Atobe and Oishi were friends, he felt he had lucked out again with his roommates. “Who are you rooming with this year, Mizuki?” Tezuka asked while thinking about it.
The corner of Mizuki’s eye twitched, almost imperceptibly. “Niou-kun,” he replied. “And...Akutsu.” The less said about the latter, the better, even if he was becoming slightly more tolerable of late. Clearing his throat, he added, “I’ll look forward to you two joining me for tea then.
Tezuka knew it was rude and possibly a little out of character for his perceived image but he couldn’t help but chuckle at Mizuki’s misfortune. While he’d only heard stories of how horrible a character Akutsu could be, he had some first hand experience on dealing with Niou on a regular basis due to his and Atsushi’s relationship. The first day at school, Niou had given him false directions and invited him in for a threesome with his new roommate. “Does Niou still have a tendency to remove nearly all of his clothes and lounge around while being far too familiar?”
“Mm? Niou-kun doesn’t bother me all that much,” Mizuki said, lifting one shoulder in a vague shrug. “He does tend towards nudism, but it is not offensive. Besides, it almost seems as if Atsushi distracts him enough so he’s not spending lengthy amounts of time in the room.” Akutsu on the other hand… uncouth, unhygenic, smoked like a chimney stack… belatedly, Mizuki blinked. Tezuka had chuckled.
… “You are laughing at me?” he said incredulously, sounding more startled than offended.
Tezuka immediately schooled his features back to the stoic look though he was still amused. “My apologies, Mizuki-kun. It was rude of me to laugh at your misfortunes.” He would not want to room with either of them let alone both. But somehow he felt that at least Akutsu felt the same, Tezuka wasn’t willing to guess what Niou felt about it or anything for that matter. He also felt it best to not mention that Atsushi and Niou were probably out of the room often looking for privacy and not because they wanted to to be nice to Mizuki.
“Well! It’s good to know at least you can laugh,” Mizuki said good-naturedly. While a little miffed that his situation was that laughable, he didn’t mind it too much when it was Tezuka, who was quite possibly one of the least offensive people on the planet. “I’ve been hearing rumours that your serious expression is permanently glued on your face~” If Tezuka was going to laugh at him, well, then Mizuki would do the same.
“Is that so?” Tezuka asked and his face schooled back to his usual stoic expression, even though he was still rather amused. “Perhaps people shouldn’t believe everything they hear.” Or read on Fuji’s blasted website. Really, if people wanted to see him with different expressions they only had to watch him suffer through one of his power training classes or any time his powers got away from him.
“You should hear all the gossip going on around the school about you, Tezuka-kun,” Mizuki said. “One can’t go five steps without overhearing something about your heroic deeds or endearing habits.” Alright, perhaps that was a little bit of an exaggeration, but not by much. Mizuki hadn’t visited the infamous fanpage himself, but he often heard the girls in his classes talking about it.
Tezuka felt his face heating up at the thought of people gossiping about him that much and looked down at the rose petals floating past him in the bath to try and hide it. He supposed he could blame the heat if Mizuki did notice any colour to his cheeks. “I’m sure most if not all of it has been greatly exaggerated,” Tezuka said. A part of him was curious to what Mizuki had heard but the larger part was quite happy to live in ignorance.
Oh, the poor boy was blushing! How adorable. Mizuki chuckled to himself, but decided to spare Tezuka the embarrassment of having it pointed out. “Oh? So you don’t regularly rescue stranded kittens and drowning puppies?” he asked. “Or train your abilities 15 hours a day to be better able to save people? Rescue damsels jumping off buildings?”
Tezuka was right, ignorance was better. The list of great things he supposedly was doing made him frown. Study 15 hours a day? Did nobody think that he might want to eat, sleep or most importantly study? Not that Tezuka wouldn’t practice his powers for that long if he had the time, it was important for him to master control over his powers, after all. “I’m afraid only one of those are true and only barely,” Tezuka said. He didn’t make it a habit to save cats and the one time he tried the cat fled before he could complete the saving but it was the most true out of the list.
“The damsel rescue?” suggested Mizuki jokingly. “Ah, and there are these conspiracy theories that you’re genetically engineered for the purpose of becoming Japan’s national hero...or something. Apparently your given name is ‘evidence’ of that.” Mizuki had been very amused when he overheard that such a topic was being discussed on online forums.
“I’m what?” Tezuka said, surprise showing on his face as he looked over at Mizuki. He really missed the small shield his glasses offered him. It would have dimmed some of the surprise from his eyes. He quickly schooled his features though, ridiculous rumours were nothing to get worked up over. “I assure you, my parents did not have me genetically engineered. And I don’t make it a hobby to rescue people, damsels or not.” Would he have to risk going on his ‘fan site’ just to keep himself abreast of the rumours around him? He’d hate to be caught off guard by any of them again.
Mizuki was really enjoying this conversation more and more. Tezuka had surprisingly entertaining reactions if one caught him off guard enough. “I certainly don’t believe that sort of gossip,” he said with a shrug. “Your legion of fans, on the other hand...you might have to make an official announcement if you really want to disabuse them of the notion. Rumours are often so much more exciting than the truth, after all~”
Legions of fans? Tezuka repeated the words in his head and they still didn’t fully compute. Surely Mizuki was teasing him again. “I don’t want to encourage them by making official announcements. I would like to remain a private citizen if possible,” Tezuka said. He took a deep breath and tried to relax back into the hot water, it would be a shame if this conversation undid all the calming effects of the rose scented bath.
Poor Tezuka seemed quite overwhelmed by Mizuki’s revelations. Did he have no idea how much he was talked about by others? Or perhaps he just did not wish to acknowledge it. “Well, then the rumours will just get wilder and wilder,” Mizuki pointed out. “Perhaps what you need is someone to handle public relations for you!” And Mizuki would be the best person for PR, thought Mizuki to himself.
Mizuki sounded far too excited about the thought of Tezuka getting someone to handle PR that Tezuka forced his eyes open to look over at him. Not that he could see him that well between his lack of glasses and the steam from the bath. “I’d just like to be a normal university student and focus on my studies.” And to master his powers but he liked to think that went without saying.
“Oh well,” Mizuki sighed, slightly disappointed even though he hadn’t really expected Tezuka to agree. “I suppose you can try. Unfortunately as mutants it is a bit difficult. Well if you ever change your mind, I would be happy to help~ It might just make your life easier in the long run if you don’t have to deal with all the attention yourself.”
“I feel I’ve been doing a good job so far,” Tezuka said. He had been wonderfully ignorant of plenty of things before Mizuki decided to share them. And while he wanted to do enough research to stay on top of what was being said about him now, he figured it would still be easy enough to carry on as normal. Or as normal as it ever got at this school.
“Mmhmm, that’s because we’re sheltered from the outside world here at the school,” Mizuki pointed out, poking at a rose petal that was drifting by. “Once you are out in society, all it would take is another of your heroic incidents to shift all attention back on you.”
“But by then I’ll have learned control and will hopefully be able to limit such circumstances,” Tezuka said. Tough he wondered if he would really be able to stop himself from wanting to help out in situations where people were in need. But if he had control of his powers, he’d at least be able to help in more subtle ways.
Mizuki raised an eyebrow. “Hopefully,” he echoed. Tezuka was quite optimistic. Mizuki rather thought the heroic deed business was habit that was probably very hard to kick. “Oh well. I suppose that is somewhat far away to think about,” he said. Might as well let Tezuka enjoy what was left of his relaxing bath.
“Not too far,” Tezuka said. It was a rather optimistic declaration as he’d yet to make any vast improvement on his power controls but he felt this semester would be better. And as soon as he could control his powers to a satisfactory degree he planned on returning to his university in Tokyo and going back to his boring pre-law student life.
“You’re very goal-oriented, Tezuka-kun,” Mizuki observed. It seemed as if Tezuka had some kind of carefully thought out future plan, already, which made him a little envious. It wasn’t like Mizuki hadn’t thought about potential careers, but it was difficult to factor in his powers and the inconveniences (or otherwise) that they might bring.
Eventually, Mizuki found his mind wandering, and he wondered how long he’d been silent and spacing out. “Mm...I think I might be done with my bath,” he told Tezuka. “Why don’t you stay and relax as long as you like?”
Tezuka was going to ask if Mizuki had goals, too but felt it would be overstepping the boundaries of their non-existent friendship. When Mizuki moved to leave, Tezuka gave a nod and stood, too. “As tempting as it may be, I’ve soaked long enough. I have other things I need to take care of tonight.” Those stacks of papers wouldn’t read and write themselves afterall. Not to mention he still had to log another thirty minutes of practice with his metal blocks before he could consider all of his power practice done for the day.
“Don’t work too hard, Tezuka-kun,” Mizuki said as he drained the bath and tidied up after himself. That was the one annoying thing about these baths...scooping up all the flower petals afterward. It’d been more than worth it though, to get some personal insight on the elusive Tezuka Kunimitsu. He nodded and smiled at Tezuka as he wrapped a bathrobe around himself. “Well, I’ll see you at tea, then~” Mizuki was already looking forward to it.
Tezuka made a vague sound of agreement and nodded his head before turning his focus to drying off and getting dressed. His bathtime with Mizuki had been unexpectedly pleasant, even with Mizuki’s desire to always talk and ask questions. But now he had to focus once again on homework and power practice. So smelling, faintly of roses, he headed back to his room to get started on all of his work.