Biology homework [Open]

[swordofzero]

Characters: Suzaku and people
Format: I'm writing prose but you can write whatever you feel like
This log is: open
Location: Black floor 1 common room
Summary: Suzaku fails at attempts biology homework
Warnings: None

Suzaku sat in the corner of the downstairs common room in the Black dorm building. Spread out in front of him was a couple of textbooks and a lot of paper. He frowned, he had never found biology easy but this! He hadn't even seen half of these plants before in his life and was starting to suspect they didn't even exist in his world.

Other worlds, the idea was terrifying when Suzaku stopped long enough to think about it, other worlds with other animals and other plants from what he knew. He blinked at the question again, he had no idea; he sighed heavily and read through the textbook again.

Comments

[brokencrane]

Yuka had been thinking of going for a walk, so she'd wandered downstairs. She didn't realize someone was in the common room when she first entered; when she spotted the boy in the corner she stopped, surprised. He looked busy, but he'd probably noticed her coming in, and it didn't hurt to be polite. "Ah, hello?"

[swordofzero]

Suzaku looked up from the work, glad for the distraction. Really he had turned over the page to a chapter on food chains, which would have been fine if the book didn't have diagrams of animals that didn't exist.

Like a turtle-seal, what on earth was a turtle-seal? Suzaku sighed. "Hello," he gave a polite smile, he didn't recognise the girl so he guessed she must have arrived on the train a couple of days ago. "How are you?"

[brokencrane]

"Fine, thank you." Oh right, smiling. That often helps. She offered him a polite one back, though it probably came across more nervous than she'd intended. "Do you live in this dorm too, then?"

[swordofzero]

Suzaku nodded; he managed to keep his polite smile fixed. With Euphemia and Sora Suzaku had been having to smile more so that they did not worry about him and it was getting a little easier to keep it up.

"Yes I live in 1A, are you new here?"

[brokencrane]

"Ah, yes, I came on the train the other day. I live upstairs in 2-B." Oh, this is the part where you're supposed to introduce yourself, isn't it. "Um, my name's Yuka Osada..."

[swordofzero]

Suzaku nodded noticing that she was nervous. "Hello Yuka Osada, my name is Suzaku," he frowned slightly before his polite smile came back into place. It was still strange to introduce himself with only his given name but they had taken the memory of his family name from him.

[brokencrane]

"Nice to meet you, Suzaku-san," she said, giving him a short bow out of habit. (Well his name did sound Japanese...)

She looked back at the pile of books and papers in front of him; homework? They did look like textbooks. "Were you busy?"

[tenwholeryou]

"What are you doing?"

Kotarou wrinkled his nose at the books and paper scattered across the short table. Whilst his question was slightly muffled from the half an apple he currently had stuffed into one cheek, it was perfectly easy to hear mainly due to the fact that he was using his Outdoor Voice.

Or he was just bored. One of the two. "Looks stupid."

[swordofzero]

Suzaku looked up and smiled at Kotarou. The kid didn't seem to have any lasting negative effects from his coma but Suzaku was still so glad whenever he saw him about, it was hard to put aside the guilt he still felt but he tried.

"Homework, from Biology class," Suzaku hadn't seen Kotarou in one class yet but it hardly mattered. Anyways Suzaku knew if he tried to force Kotarou to go to class, or to do anything he would just bolt into the forest with Huashi.

[tenwholeryou]

Too right. Kotarou had tried one class, which had turned out to be a hell known only as 'mathematics', and hadn't gone back since. He'd kept up a little by filching textbooks from his dorm, but for the most part all the subjects seemed to be things utterly useless to a life of piracy. He crossed the remaining distance to Suzaku and his homework with a shuffling, overly-casual walk, and peered down at the book again.

He also swallowed some of his apple. Coughed a few times. Recovered.

"Why d'you want to do that?"

[swordofzero]

Suzaku watched as Kotarou shuffled over and looked at the book again. "I don't want to do it," he explained with a tiny smile, "It's boring and confusing. But I have to do it, going to classes and doing homework is one of the rules of this place. We should always try and stick to the rules, or there is only chaos."

This was said in a completely empty voice, as if Suzaku wasn't even sure if he believed that anymore. Suzaku wasn't sure why and when he tried to think about it his head filled with clouds and he had to force himself to concentrate on Kotarou not his own thoughts in order for the fuzziness to subside.

[tenwholeryou]

Kotarou squinted at him sidelong. It really didn't sound like he believed that. Just one more of the empty things adults said to reassure themselves, more like.

"Not if rules get in the way," he pointed out, as he clambered onto the seat next to Suzaku. Once he was suitably perched, he fished the second half of his apple out of his pocket, brushed the fluff off it, and resumed eating. "What's a seal-turtle, anyway?"

[swordofzero]

Suzaku frowned but didn't argue, it was obvious that Kotarou's opinion of rules and Suzaku's differed greatly. Suzaku watched as the boy came to sit next to him and shrugged. "I have no idea, they don't have seal-turtles in my world. I guess it is a mix between the two animals," how that even worked Suzaku didn't know. He flipped over the page, "You don't happen to know any of these plants do you?"

[lolisandminorities]

Due to inhospitable roommates, Xingke had held the same idea when he walked down the steps into the common room. Homework required a great deal of concentration these days, especially when he had to repeatedly teach himself to read in order to scrape by on what should have been easy questions.

If it weren't for the fact that Xingke had already studied the material, he would have been failing for certain. As it was, with Lloyd tinkering away in the room, his quarters had become unsuitable for study which had led him here.

Staring at another dead person.

Confusion did not even begin.

[swordofzero]

Suzaku looked up to see who had come down the stairs; and was on his feet in moments ready in case the man tried anything. He had known Xingke was here, he was Euphemia's weapon as well apparantly.

He had not seen Xingke since the summit at Ashford, he was not expecting him to be happy to see him at all. In fact he was expecting the man to attack him any second, Suzaku deserved to be attacked any second because for all Xingke knew he was a traitor to his own country and knight to an evil tyrant.

Only the first of those assumptions were true, but it was enough to deserve Xingke's hatred.

"Li Xingke," he said formally.

[lolisandminorities]

This would have been true if Xingke had not already seen the finale of Zero Requiem, a plan that had apparently stolen both the life of Lelouch and his knight. While he had always held his suspicions about the second Zero, there had never really been a means to prove his concerns or a motivation to do so. The world had been on the road to peace and the figure of justice had never done anything to suggest he (or she) desired otherwise so Xingke had left well enough alone.

At least until now.

"Kururugi Suzaku." Xingke replied, equally as formal as he made no move to advance or retreat. It was quite obvious that they were currently locked in a staredown, waiting for the other to move.

[swordofzero]

Suzaku's mind went a little fuzzy when Xingke spoke his name, so that was his family name. It didn't matter; he had forgotten the word as quickly as it was said. Suzaku remained still and formal as he watched Xingke, not quite meeting his eyes.

He didn't say anything though, the silence stretched on. His eyes had already taken in the possible exits and the paths to get to them; he stood straight and silent waiting for Xingke to speak or attack; whatever came first.

[lolisandminorities]

It was hard to deny that familiar curl of anger and distaste Xingke felt towards this man. Especially when one considered everything they'd done to the world as emperor and knight. And yet...

He sighed, there was no point in maintaining a standoff. As a show of his willingness to cooperate for the time being, the warrior chose a spot a few tables away from Suzaku and sat, breaking both the contact and the silence. "Sit. There's no point in fighting now." Was all he said, waiting for Suzaku to do the same.

[swordofzero]

Suzaku did not feel any more comfortable but he did do as he was told and sat silently, Xingke was right there was no point in fighting. Especially since they would be forced together at some point because of Euphemia. "You're right," he muttered feeling awkward as he went back to staring at the book.

[choseanidiot]

Enki was thoroughly disturbed. There was his inability to call his shirei, and, as he'd later established, inability to change. He didn't understand it. It didn't feel like there was a block, but nothing simply happened. Honestly, it frightened him.

Had this been what Taiki had felt? But then, the kid had simply never learnt to change; Enki had suddenly had the ability to return to his true form taken away. And then there were the battles. Not many had happened, yet, but the first one... He wished he hadn't decided to go have a look.

In any case, in an attempt to distract himself, he was now wandering through the available buildings, and had come to the Black Dorm. He wasn't sure (besides a long habit of going to look what Shōryū was working with, the few times he could be found with paperwork) what made him wander up to the young man bent over his work, but when he came close enough, Enki's eyes widened.

"Riboku..." What was a picture of a riboku doing in a book in this place? That didn't make sense at all!

[swordofzero]

Suzaku looked up at the figure who approached him, it was a young boy. Not the youngest he had seen in this place; no where as young as Kotarou, but young enough that Suzaku felt anger at those that had brought them here. It was bad enough kidnapping adults and forcing them to fight but they had taken children as well.

"Riboku?" He blinked at the boy, realising he was talking about the picture in the book. "You know what this tree is?" Maybe this boy was from whatever world this book was talking about.

[choseanidiot]

Enki nodded, still surprised to find a picture of a riboku here. But then, why was that so strange? That was where babies came from, after all...

"Sure. Children come from it," Enki said with a shrug, then hopped up to sit on the tabletop, legs dangling beneath. He had to pause and scratch the back of his head, though, because something seemed off about that statement. But children did come from the riboku, so why did it feel like he'd just made too broad a generalization?

"Animals and plants come from wild version of that, though." There. That seemed to sum it up nicely. And yet... What was he missing?

[swordofzero]

Suzaku raised an eyebrow shocked. Children came from the tree? It was said so casually that Suzaku guessed that it was a truth on the boy's world. Suzaku had accepted the fact there were different worlds but worlds as different as that?

"Children come from a tree in your world?" He tried not to sound too shocked, he probably failed. Animals as well? That was so strange.

[choseanidiot]

The guy seemed shocked. Enku frowned, and wondered why. It wasn't as if it was any different in Hourai after all... Something was wrong with that thought too, but he couldn't pin down why.

"Parents pray to Heaven to grant them a child, and if they're lucky, a fruit'll grow for 'em," Enki confirmed, and then, curious, picked up the book and flicked through it.

"... Kibou," Enki muttered and put the book down, both surprised and not to see youma presented among some of the creatures in the book. The one he'd found resembled something between a weasel/ferret.

[swordofzero]

Parent prayed to heaven and what? Suzaku blinked at the child, was he being serious? He sounded serious and Suzaku watched in confused silence as he looked through the book.

He blinked at the creature the boy had pointed out and nodded still confused by his earlier fruit. "What do you mean parents pray to heaven and a fruit grows?" Perhaps this was a story the boy had been told from his parents to explain where children came from.

Other worlds was confusing enough but children being born on trees?