Inbox: Atsushi Nakajima

[beneathmoonlight]

Atsushi Nakajima

Atsushi Nakajima here! Sorry I missed you! Please leave a message or voicemail and I’ll get back to you ASAP! ^_^

VOICE | TEXT | VIDEO | ACTION

Comments

2/15

[lienhearts]

[And on this day, when everyone was able to return to the city and their friends and family, Atsushi will hear an odd thought...

"Ugh... I missed way too much work as Kestrel. I wonder if they'd buy it if I said I was sick? ...That'd mean forging a doctor's note, though."

"Dammit, I better not lose my role over this."]

[beneathmoonlight]

[........

Uh??? Is he hearing this right??? No way...

Theo? As Kestral Blade??

How???]

Um

Theo?

[lienhearts]

["Missed a bunch of classes, too... Hm?"

And sure enough, almost immediately after:]

What now?

[beneathmoonlight]

Your thoughts...

Are you really Kestral Blade?

[lienhearts]

[?!

There's a long moment before the response comes as he considers several different lies but - no, they both know how this works by now, that's not really an option.]

Don't you dare tell anyone

[beneathmoonlight]

I wasn’t going to but

Really?

[lienhearts]

[Look, if you're going to bother to ask:]

Definitely not

[beneathmoonlight]

[SIIIIIIIIIGH.]

I won’t tell anyone but

How are you so nice and cheerful when you’re acting?

[lienhearts]

[...]

Do you know what the word "acting" even means?

[beneathmoonlight]

Of course I do!!!

I just don’t get it!

Even if you’re acting, why are you so grumpy outside of that role?

[lienhearts]

Because people are annoying?

Because it's more profitable to be someone else?

[Because he's got a giant chip on his shoulder still?]

That's like me asking you why you're so cheerful on the outside all the time

[beneathmoonlight]

On the outside?

[lienhearts]

You're not the only one hearing thoughts.

[beneathmoonlight]

Oh.

Sorry, Theo-kun. I didn’t mean to be rude.

[lienhearts]

[Wow, not even any kind of flustered reaction. There's another pause between texts and, with some exasperation, he finally responds:]

You want to talk about it?

[He doesn't even know why he's bothering. But at the same time, he can't just not.]

[beneathmoonlight]

There’s not much to say.

I’m not confident like you, Theo-kun.

And I’m constantly messing things up.

[lienhearts]

Messing up like how?

[beneathmoonlight]

I ended up lying to a friend while I was trying to make them feel better...

Luckily he forgave me, but still.

[lienhearts]

Am I missing something here?

How big of a lie are we talking about?

[beneathmoonlight]

I made them think I agreed with them on something when I really didn’t.

It sounds small, but to me it was huge.

But it’s not like I’m a miserable person or anything.

I’m lucky to be where I am.

[lienhearts]

...Yeah people lie all the time

To pretty much everyone else. Bosses, coworkers, friends, family. Even if you don't mean to, sometimes it's easier to lie than tell the truth.

Anyway, what does luck have to do with being happy?

[beneathmoonlight]

I guess.

The life I’ve built for myself only happened because I got adopted.

I dunno where I’d be right now if not for that.

So for me that luck equals happiness.

[lienhearts]

[...Adopted...?

Something's just on the verge of clicking there, and he frowns as he types out his response.]

Sure it's a lifechanger

But getting lucky once doesn't mean being happy for the rest of your life

Getting lucky a thousand times doesn't mean you'll never be unhappy

[beneathmoonlight]

I guess so.

I’m still happy that I got adopted, though.

It’s changed my life for the better, even if it’s not always perfect.

I can say I’m happy here. At least most of the time.

[lienhearts]

Then don't lie and try to act like everything's fine when it's not

If things are working out, great

But don't get too caught up in your act or it'll eat you alive

If your friends can't take a little disagreement, tough shit