overstrain | INBOX

I told you I don't write those!

[ KIDO....... this is going to be recurring thing, isn't it? ]

... And what's a pairing name?

[ Yeah ]

A pairing name is sort of what you did, splicing two people's names together, so you can refer to them by one name instead of two. So, for Souji and Minato, it would be something like... MinaSou?

[ Would Kido know any of this, I don't know, but Mary is into this sort of thing so I'd imagine it's been mentioned at one point or another ]

[ naruhodo

He learns new things every day. ]

They sound like new names. Like... actual names.

[ please don't naruhodo this, Terry... ]

That's the point. Anyways, let's not talk about them anymore. It's kind of weird.

[ It edges too close to real person fanfiction and she doesn't want to go there ]

[ He's been saying that he doesn't like doing that kind of stuff, Kido! AAAAAAaaaaaa ]

Okay.

[ At least the house is right there. ]

Let me drop the cats off and we can go to an arcade.

[ There's "doesn't like" and "doesn't do," which one's the truth ]

Sure, I'll wait outside.

[ The arcade's a surprising choice- but at the same time, it's a very normal one. She suposses that's what people do when they hang out, stop by the arcade after school and stuff, but there were always games back home if they felt like playing anything, so she rarely ever goes outside to an actual arcade. ]

[ You know the truth... is in your heart...

Terry goes into the house and comes back out shortly after. It's time to get a normal slice of the normal life, Kido. ]

Let's go!

[ ... With one of the most abnormal guys here. ]

[ My heart is full of concern for Terry all the time

Kido breathes a laugh when Terry comes out acting like a little kid, and she holds her hand to him. ]

Someone's excited. But let's take our time and walk, instead of zooming straight there.

[ Because that would be an immediate end to a normal slice of the normal life, if Terry were to pick her up and run 80mph to the arcade, please don't ruin this ]

[ Terry immediately holds Kido's hand and swings it a little on their way to the arcade. They're walking in normal speeds, like she requested. ]

Of course I'd be excited! Why wouldn't I be?

Most people don't get this excited unless they've never been to an arcade before, or they're five.

[ She's going to assume he's been to one before, not like with the festivals where he was so excited to go to every one of them, even if they all turned out to be pretty similar in the end. ]

You're calling me five...

[ Even the one time he looked like a kid, he didn't look THAT young... and yet... ]

I didn't say that.

[ Not in those exact words. He's young at heart! it's fine!! ]

But you sure implied it.

[ Though he's not mad. When would he ever be legitimately mad at Kido... Hm. ]

Anyway, I heard they have this crane game... I think there's a game console in it.

[ There are so many things about Kido that can get really annoying, and lots of times that Terry would be justified in being mad at her, but instead he just makes that long suffering face lmao ]

A game console... built into the game? Or as one of the prizes?

[ Either way, that grabs her attention more than shooters or other sorts of usual arcade games there are. Crane games in general usually have toys and stuff as prizes, and Kido doesn't need any more stuffed animals but that doesn't stop her from wanting them. ]

A handheld console! Though I don't know which one it is...

[ He doubts it's anything from his time, so... ]

It would be convenient, since we don't have a TV.

Maybe something like a PSP... We had to share one as kids, but we had the sort of console that connected to the TV too. Your phone should have games on it, though?

[ Fancy phone from the future should be capable of it, but she doesn't know about Terry's current one. Maybe it can run tetris? ]

My phone has... puzzle games.

[ ... ]

I liked PC and console games better than mobile games, so I only downloaded those as timesinks while I waited or something. It has classic stuff like word connect, tetris, bubble shooter, 4dots (yes), 2048, caocao block... yeah.

Wow... I can't imagine you sitting there playing such boring games for very long.

[ She was imagining something more like how I've played KOTOR on my phone before, fancy phones from the future should be able to do at least that much ]

[ They can, it's just... Terry never needed to play those kinds of higher-end games on his phone lol what a waste... ]

Sometimes, your opinion of me sounds like it gets worse and worse...

[ Kido does not confirm nor refute that ]

As long as it stays in the positive, that's fine, isn't it? I don't have high expectations of you.

[ ...That sounds rude. But she doesn't expect him to be smart or cool or any of that, she just needs him to be somebody she can count on when she needs him the most, and he's always been that. He always comes when she needs help, and even if he can't succeed in what she asks for, he tries hard anyways, and that's enough.

She squeezes his hand. ]

Just you being you is enough.

[ It may be rude, but Terry doesn't take it like that, so it's just a normal comment from Kido for him. The only one who's allowed to put high expectations on him is himself--or at least the standards that he cares about anyway. It's actually better for him that people don't have high expectations, because that's all he was trying to get away from before... The last comment Kido makes is what makes the whole thing much better so he squeezes her hand back, grinning all the while. ]

I'm glad you think so, Kido. Thanks. That means a lot to me! I really mean it... that's why I love being around you.

Oh.

[ Her pace falters for a second, before picking back up ]

Because you're fine just being you? That holds true no matter who you're with or where you are, though.

[ Even though it doesn't feel like it sometimes, when he's become somebody people turn to, because he's stronger and faster and has cheating pinpointing powers. ]

[ "I feel like a faceless form that's only meant to mimic someone else--someone that I'm supposed to be. Me being myself got in the way of a lot of things."

He remembers writing that in one of the pages. He did forget about that for a brief moment when Kido told him that just being him is enough, but his thoughts immediately gear to overthinking again. Despite everything though, Kido still accepts him for who he is, and that's something he should never take for granted. Even if his self now is contrived of all the things opposite of what his original was supposed to be to the point it became natural for Terry to follow it.

... ]

I like... being me. Well, maybe it's more like I want to stay being me. I dunno! A lot of people didn't want me to be the way I am. So, I am fine with being me no matter who I'm with or where I am, but it doesn't erase the fact that people wanted someone else. If that was the only thing that surrounded me for a long time, it would be hard to convince myself that being me is a good thing, right?

That's why you saying that means a lot to me, Kido.

[ There are a lot of people who hate themselves, hate being themselves, so the fact that Terry's so comfortable with who he is and wants to hold onto that can only be a good thing, Kido thinks to herself, but it's the former that she understands more than the latter. ]

Right... Those sorts of expectations aren't fair at all, telling somebody who they're supposed to be. Just look at the name my mom gave me. She probably wanted me to be cute and delicate... Kano's also always going on about how I'm not feminine at all. I was the opposite of all those things, and a disappointment to everybody around me.

[ She couldn't speak properly, she had a bad attitude, nothing about her mattered except the fact that she was a bastard child whose existence is a mark of her father's infidelity, and that was enough to make her scorned throughout the entire household. ]

But then I was taken in by a family of weirdos who didn't care about any of that, so I was able to learn that being me is okay. So really, I get it.

[ And so she never really corrected anything, although she's much better now than when she was little and her anger problems were even worse than they are now ]

[ The name subject isn't something he wants to breach right now with himself as the main topic, so Kido will just have to keep calling Terry by Terrence for a while longer. ]

I'm glad that you were eventually able to learn that. It's nice to have someone who really understands. [ To an extent, anyway. ] That's why I never really feel alone with you around, Kido, because you get it.

[ He knows that Rei understands too, but that's left to be said face-to-face with the person at hand... The Black Cat household is basically full of "disappointment children". :( ]

Besides, I like you for who you are. That will never change. You don't need to be delicate and feminine to be cute anyway.

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