[Day: Tuesday, February 25th. Time: 7:00 p.m.] [Satoshi is at home doing whatever it is he does when the phone rings!] [Mini start] * Satoshi picks up the phone. "Watanabe residence." * Katie speaks from the other end of the phone. "Hello? Is Satoshi there?" This is Satoshi. Katie? Yeah, it's me. Um... what's up? * Katie takes a deep breath. "Well, I just wanted to know if you were okay. I got kind of distracted by Taro earlier today, and... yeah." Ahh... yeah... I'm just kinda... sitting around. Not doing much of anything. Trying not to think. It's hard. Not thinking, I mean. Yeah. I know what you mean. Do you really? * Katie laughs a little. "Maybe. I was sure I'd killed Katsuchiyo back when." But you didn't. No. But for a full day, I thought I did. Must've been pretty rough, then... Yeah, it was. I haven't talked to anybody about it, but... it was. It's not the sort of thing you really want to have to talk about. Or think about. No. Nobody should have to talk about it, or think about it. Or live with it. Which is what I'm gonna have to do. And I'm not sure how. * Katie sighs. "Okay. Do you mind if I come over?" Uhh... no. Great. I'll be there in a little bit. Okay. See you then. Bye. * Katie hangs up. [Time: 7:30 p.m. Katie gets to Satoshi's place.] * Katie knock-knock-knocks. * Jin knock-knock-knocks back on the other side. * Satoshi gently moves Jin aside and opens the door. "Hi, Katie." He's dressed in a long-sleeved shirt and jeans, and his face looks pretty red, like he's been crying a lot. * Katie blinks at Satoshi, but doesn't look too surprised. "Hi. Can I come in?" * Jin waves. "Hi." * Katie waves back at Jin with a small smile. * Satoshi nods and opens the door wide enough to let her in. "Sure." * Katie steps in and remembers to remove her shoes. "Sorry about this, but I didn't want to risk my parents overhearing me. Especially with the way our talk was going." * Satoshi blinks. "Oh. Yeah. Well, I don't mind, really." Good. Um... where should I sit? * Satoshi indicates the armchair. "Unless you'd rather talk in my room. It's kinda messy in there, though." Nah, it's okay. * Katie has a seat and looks over at Satoshi. * Satoshi grabs a chair from the kitchen and sets it down next to the armchair. He sits and looks back. "Okay, where'd we leave off?" I was thinking of eating a chicken sandwich. I'm sorry, I'm having trouble remembering... thinking... concentrating. All that. * Satoshi looks briefly to Jin. "Top shelf of the refrigerator, top shelf of the pantry. Put the bread back when you're done." * Satoshi turns his attention back to Katie. * Jin goes to make a chicken sandwich :9 * Katie smiles faintly. "It's okay. I think we were talking about how to deal with... this." She gestures vaguely. Yes. This. I don't want to go to school tomorrow. Then don't. I don't think anyone would blame me. But one day can so easily turn into two, then three... and I don't want to do the whole hiding away from the world thing again. * Katie nods and considers that. "I... thought about the same thing. And that's just it." No matter what you do to not think about the problem, or run away, whenever you stop it's still going to be there. Still, if you need the day to think, it won't hurt to take it. I'll be here the next day to kick you into gear if you need me. * Satoshi chuckles. "Thanks for the offer. I just... well, I'm not entirely sure how to act anymore. I can't go on like nothing happened..." * Katie leans forward, elbows resting on her knees. "Why not?" Because... I *killed* somebody! You don't act like nothing happened after you do something like that! Who decided that? I... don't know. You just... I don't know. * Katie studies Satoshi for a moment. "I don't think Kyon's killed anybody." * Satoshi blinks. "Neither do I, but... oh. You mean when everybody thought he'd killed the girl from Seiryuu?" * Jin finally comes back with his sandwich. No. I just don't think he's killed anybody. He doesn't act like it. * Katie waves at Jin. * Jin waves back. But how could you tell... oh. * Satoshi blushes slightly. "I think I get it this time." * Katie turns her attention back to Satoshi. "What's that?" Sandwich? I got it. That you can't really tell what a person's done, just by how they act? That... I don't know how to say it, but... there's no requirement that you have to act a certain way even if you've done something wrong? As long as you don't forget, and are sorry and make sure that it will never, ever happen again... You don't? You can't, not really. And I can't tell you how to deal with it, because you're not me. But... look, Satoshi, if there's anything I can do to help you with this, just ask. Okay? You've done a lot already. I mean, you're here. I was afraid... earlier, I was so afraid... * Satoshi blinks hard, fighting back a fresh set of tears. * Katie nods. "Yeah." She looks for the box of tissues. * Satoshi starts crying again. "I thought I was going to be arrested! And I'd go to jail, and everyone would hate me, and I'd let my dad down again and..." And that I really did ruin my life! I don't hate Satoshi. Yeah. I don't hate Satoshi, either. It was an accident. Everyone knows that. You know it, right? I'm not sure. * Satoshi stops and looks up at them. "I know. It was an accident. I'm just... afraid of what people are gonna say. And part of me knows that's silly, because the people who really matter don't hate me." * Katie sighs, scooting over and giving Satoshi a hug. "It's not silly." * Jin gives Satoshi a hug. "Eat some chicken." (Jin rules.) * Satoshi sniffles, laughs and hugs them both back. "Thank you. Both of you. And, yeah, chicken sounds good. You had dinner yet, Katie?" * Katie grins and shakes her head. "No, not yet. Should I call home and let them know I'm eating out?" We are home. I meant my home, Jin. ... You want the couch? If you don't think your parents would mind too much... I don't want to get you in trouble. * Satoshi points to the phone. "Phone's over there." * Satoshi turns back to Jin. "No, Jin. Remember, Katie lives somewhere else with her family." * Katie nods and heads over to the phone. Do they have chicken? I'm sure they do. Should we go there then? But we have chicken here. And the three of us are here already, and I wouldn't want to trouble Katie's family. * Katie picks up the phone and dials. "" She listens for a while, then sighs. "" * Katie listens a bit longer, then grins. "" She hangs up. Then we should bring them here? Mom says it's okay. That's good. * Satoshi looks over at Katie. "Great." He then turns back to Jin. "We probably could have asked Katie, but I'd imagine they're very busy and need to do things at their own house." Eating chicken? * Satoshi smiles. "It's possible." * Katie shakes her head. "They could be, yeah." * Satoshi gets up. "I'll be right back." He walks into the bathroom and washes his face off. * Satoshi walks back out. "So, Katie, what would you like? We have chicken, of course, and things that are not chicken, and things that can be mixed with chicken." * Katie snickers. The essential food groups. Chicken and Not Chicken? Absolutely. Jin agrees with me, don't you, Jin? Uh huh. See? If Jin agrees, then it must be true! I guess I can't argue with that logic. Are you sure? Right now? Yes. Okay. Make whatever you like Satoshi. I'm just along for the ride. * Satoshi nods and walks over to the refrigerator. "Let's see... chicken, rice, daikon, carrots... I think I shall make chicken and rice with vegetables and teriyaki. Sound good?" One thing about having Jin here... he's gotten me to actually cook. * Katie laughs. "Yeah. And it sounds good." Before I more-or-less lived on instant ramen. So, chicken and rice with vegetables and teriyaki it is. [Mini End]