[Oh no, it's totally okay! Everybody lies to Rin. Welcome to the club! Dang, it's too bad Kaneki can't see the utterly ridiculous expression Rin is wearing right at that moment.]
You're not cool enough to be any of those things anyway.
You know, admitting that you're uncool just makes you even more uncool! People are gonna think you're a total push over! - I mean, you kinda already are. But there's a limit!
...Y'coulda just told me from the beginning. [- there's a bit of an underlying tone there - oh, wait, it's gone.]
I guess I didn't want to disappoint you. I mean...I'm pretty ordinary, otherwise.
[Nothing about that sentence is true. ...perhaps the first part is, but it's really that he didn't want to throw Banjou under the bus. He's not sure what Rin will ask him now that this has come to light, but he won't deliberately drag him into this, either.
And as for the second part...well. He used to be ordinary. At least here, he can say that again.]
[Dude, you are bring him down with all this negative talk. ...But it does feel odd to know that someone out there didn't want to disappoint him. That's - uhm. He was the one disappointing other people, not the other way around.
...He's not sure how to feel about that. The silence that follows is filled with heavy thoughts.]
Banjou - He's stood up for you a lot. So that doesn't make you ordinary at all.
[Kaneki didn't want to disappoint him? What was that all about? D-Damn it, he's still thinking about it. Rin puts it aside the best way he knows how: jumping to another topic!]
Damn straight, it wasn't fair of you to lie like that! You got me thinkin' you were the front man to Banjou's cool guitar skills! And you know what else? Maka laughed at me too, so that makes it even worse!
[Banjou...Kaneki can't help but smile slightly on the other end when Rin says that. He's not surprised. Banjou has been nothing if not helpful to him, so of course he'd continue to stand up for him here.
But he's also fine with switching topics.]
W-well, that part is true, at least...Banjou-san really can play guitar. I just don't really, uh...perform or anything, myself.
And I'm sure she didn't mean anything by it. She just teases you because you're her friend, right?
[OH MAN, LET RIN TELL KANEKI ALL ABOUT BANJOU'S ROCKER SKILLS.]
Yeah, he totally can! It was so cool seein' him strum out this awesome tune! I can't play either but if a big guy like him can make it look so easy then - I dunno, maybe a scrawny guy like you can too!
[And soon, even Rin know how to play guitar too! Really, Kaneki, this is supposed to be encouraging. At the mention of Maka being his friend, Rin puffs out his chest a little. Yes, now Kaneki understands. Good.]
She teases me about everything. ... But I like bothering her too, so I guess that makes us even.
Ahah...maybe sometime. It's...probably a lot harder than it looks, though.
[But if anybody could teach somebody, he feels like it could be Banjou. He might be a little awkward sometimes, but he just has that feeling about him.]
You're not a musician, but you're still something else.
[he really needs to collect his thoughts here - there are moments when he tries to think before speaking! like now, for instance.]
I only spoke to you a few times, and you seem more like a shy guy than someone with something to hide. But Banjou didn't talk about you at all. ...It's okay if you're hiding somethin' and I don't want to know your secret, if you have one.
[He pauses again. Wow, this sounds stupid when he says it out loud... As if Kaneki has a secret!] Ah, nevermind, it's stupid.
[Something told him that was what he was probably going to ask, but even so Kaneki wasn't ready for it. The short breath he takes on the other end is audible, and he's glad that Rin can't actually see him right now. He's never been good at not showing that he's nervous or even hiding something; being on audio itself is bad enough.
He's silent for a little while, letting Rin talk while he tries to listen and absorb what he's asking. It's even worse when he's at a loss for what to say when Rin seems to be finished talking...until he turns around and redacts everything.
...]
I...I don't want to lie to you about anything else, Okumura-san. I said before that that wasn't fair of me to do, and it still isn't. But...
...but that isn't something I really want to talk about.
[Rin can't see but he can hear the silence that follows. It's honestly making him a little nervous. Nothing Kaneki has said has been even remotely reassuring, but Rin wasn't going to pry where he wasn't wanted. He'll just have to hope that whatever thing was going down with Kaneki was something that wouldn't become an issue. And how could it? Everyone in Johto was human.
...?
...Okay, so we're just going to completely ignore that this conversation even happened. Rin laughs a bit, partially to break the tension and partially because he was thinking of something dumb.]
I told ya it was okay not to tell me. I don't want to know. 'Sides, I bet your secret is something stupid, like breaking out into hives when you touch a girl!
[Kaneki laughs suddenly, then. It's a breathy laugh, as if he's relieved that Rin decided not to press him further about it. Even so, his grip on his Gear is like a vice as he responds.]
A...alright. Yeah, it's...it's nothing.
[It's...nothing, here. He just can't forget that.]
[God, Kaneki, you're so weird. Why was he laughing with him? Sure, the girl thing was funny, but it wasn't that funny. ...Maybe Kaneki had a good sense of humor. Hm. Humor. Funny jokes. Hmmmmmmmm...
...OH NO, RIN HAS AN IDEA.]
Yeah. Oh - Just one more question and I'll let you go back to reading a book!
It should be noted that Kaneki's answer to this question may or may not affect how much he will enjoy the rest of his summer. It should also be noted that if he wants to enjoy his summer, Kaneki would be well advised to speak to the people within Rin's circle of friends because he's using that tone of voice. That being that he has something ridiculous up his sleeve and will see this through to the end so help him.]
I was just wonderin'... You're not allergic to anything, are ya?
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
[audio]
You're not cool enough to be any of those things anyway.
[audio]
Ah...you're right. I...I guess I'm not.
[audio]
...Y'coulda just told me from the beginning. [- there's a bit of an underlying tone there - oh, wait, it's gone.]
[audio]
I should have. I just...
[...]
I guess I didn't want to disappoint you. I mean...I'm pretty ordinary, otherwise.
[Nothing about that sentence is true. ...perhaps the first part is, but it's really that he didn't want to throw Banjou under the bus. He's not sure what Rin will ask him now that this has come to light, but he won't deliberately drag him into this, either.
And as for the second part...well. He used to be ordinary. At least here, he can say that again.]
But it wasn't fair of me to lie to you like that.
[audio]
...He's not sure how to feel about that. The silence that follows is filled with heavy thoughts.]
Banjou - He's stood up for you a lot. So that doesn't make you ordinary at all.
[Kaneki didn't want to disappoint him? What was that all about? D-Damn it, he's still thinking about it. Rin puts it aside the best way he knows how: jumping to another topic!]
Damn straight, it wasn't fair of you to lie like that! You got me thinkin' you were the front man to Banjou's cool guitar skills! And you know what else? Maka laughed at me too, so that makes it even worse!
[audio]
But he's also fine with switching topics.]
W-well, that part is true, at least...Banjou-san really can play guitar. I just don't really, uh...perform or anything, myself.
And I'm sure she didn't mean anything by it. She just teases you because you're her friend, right?
[audio]
Yeah, he totally can! It was so cool seein' him strum out this awesome tune! I can't play either but if a big guy like him can make it look so easy then - I dunno, maybe a scrawny guy like you can too!
[And soon, even Rin know how to play guitar too! Really, Kaneki, this is supposed to be encouraging. At the mention of Maka being his friend, Rin puffs out his chest a little. Yes, now Kaneki understands. Good.]
She teases me about everything. ... But I like bothering her too, so I guess that makes us even.
[audio]
Ahah...maybe sometime. It's...probably a lot harder than it looks, though.
[But if anybody could teach somebody, he feels like it could be Banjou. He might be a little awkward sometimes, but he just has that feeling about him.]
That's good to hear, then.
[audio]
[audio]
Er, well...it doesn't, but you said Banjou made it look easy, right?
[audio]
[I-It makes perfect sense to him...]
[audio]
[What do you think he's going to do, Rin, break the guitar in half?]
[audio]
[That's... that's it exactly...]
[audio]
Well, that just means he's even better at playing than you first thought.
[Contrary to what you might think, Banjou's actually pretty gentle when he wants to be.]
[audio]
He's real gentle.
[...But Banjou still had to lie for this guy. Why?] Can I ask a question?
[audio]
Sure. What is it?
[audio]
You're not a musician, but you're still something else.
[he really needs to collect his thoughts here - there are moments when he tries to think before speaking! like now, for instance.]
I only spoke to you a few times, and you seem more like a shy guy than someone with something to hide. But Banjou didn't talk about you at all. ...It's okay if you're hiding somethin' and I don't want to know your secret, if you have one.
[He pauses again. Wow, this sounds stupid when he says it out loud... As if Kaneki has a secret!] Ah, nevermind, it's stupid.
[audio]
He's silent for a little while, letting Rin talk while he tries to listen and absorb what he's asking. It's even worse when he's at a loss for what to say when Rin seems to be finished talking...until he turns around and redacts everything.
...]
I...I don't want to lie to you about anything else, Okumura-san. I said before that that wasn't fair of me to do, and it still isn't. But...
...but that isn't something I really want to talk about.
[audio]
...?
...Okay, so we're just going to completely ignore that this conversation even happened. Rin laughs a bit, partially to break the tension and partially because he was thinking of something dumb.]
I told ya it was okay not to tell me. I don't want to know. 'Sides, I bet your secret is something stupid, like breaking out into hives when you touch a girl!
[audio]
A...alright. Yeah, it's...it's nothing.
[It's...nothing, here. He just can't forget that.]
[audio]
...OH NO, RIN HAS AN IDEA.]
Yeah. Oh - Just one more question and I'll let you go back to reading a book!
[audio]
Uuhh...okay. I'm listening.
[audio]
It should be noted that Kaneki's answer to this question may or may not affect how much he will enjoy the rest of his summer. It should also be noted that if he wants to enjoy his summer, Kaneki would be well advised to speak to the people within Rin's circle of friends because he's using that tone of voice. That being that he has something
ridiculousup his sleeve and will see this through to the end so help him.]I was just wonderin'... You're not allergic to anything, are ya?
[audio]
I...I don't think so?
[audio]
[C'MON MAN, WHAT IF YOU WENT OUT TO EAT AND YOU COULDN'T HAVE ANYTHING ON THE MENU??? WHAT IF YOU COULD ONLY EAT ONE THING???]
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