My Personal Hell

[Kentaro Itonokogiri]

When Kentaro returned to the school after a quick trip to recruit a new student, he was pretty content with his ride. He always loved travelling, even if they couldn't do much sightseeing while on the job. He considered his work as important. He was, along with whoever he was partnered with, the first encounter the child had with the school and sometimes even with mutants and powers. If it didn’t go well, it would impact how that future student would think of the school and themselves. He considered it went well.

There was one downside to recruiting however and it was the paperwork. Bureaucracy would be the death of him. He was certain that, should it exists, Hell was made of mountains of paperwork sorted in such a random way that finding something is nearly impossible and once you do, the words disappear and you have to write it all over again. And the task fell on him to write down the report of what happened and fill in the remaining spaces for this new student. In the end, Hell might actually exists.

He entered the staff room with the papers in hands. Despite how much he hated that part of his job, he chose to take it with a smile. The fact that Valko was in the room might also have caused him to look on the brighter side of things. “You think I’ll get the chance to train this one?” was how he greeted the man. He sat across him with a sigh of contentment, eyeing the papers only for a second before finding more interest in his taciturn colleague. “After all, we already know each other, this will make gaining her trust easier so we can start working. It would be nice to do more than watching and assisting for once and try my hand at this.”

TAG: Valko Holt

[Valko Holt]

His gaze snapped up the moment her heard the chair across from him move. Valko snorted in response to the other trainer's question, focusing back on his progress report on one of his own kids while he answered. "No." he replied bluntly, shrugging.

Kentaro managed to get on his nerves now and then, but this was Valko after all. He could easily get pissed at just about anyone, or not. It was nearly impossible to tell the difference with him sometimes. "The reason they've got you mainly on recruiting duty is because you're made for it. Unlike me, you can actually be nice and mean it." In some ways it could be taken as a compliment, but Valko stated it as fact. He wasn't nice. Anyone calling him sweet was either crazy or trying to mess with him.

"They send me out there, and I'm more likely to scare the hell out of any freshly turned mutants. Bunch of softies." He growled. Finally he looked back up at the other man and gave him a quick once over. "So who've you found this time, huh? A mouse shifter? Another telepath?"

Kentaro Itonokogiri

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[Kentaro Itonokogiri]

Taciturn was the right word to describe this man. Kentaro’s eyes narrowed for a second at the blunt response he got from what was sort of meant as a rhetorical question. Wouldn’t it make sense to put him to good use and have him train? He was accredited for it. Okay, so maybe he didn’t study here. He knew how some countries did not recognized diplomas earned in other countries, but he was not from some poor country low on technology and resources. His training should have some value here. Otherwise, how come they let him recruit the students?

Kentaro refused for the man’s brutish mannerism to affect him though and kept on talking about the reasons why he should get this case. But his reasoning was turned into mush by Valko. Kentaro didn’t look too annoyed by it though. He more seemed to think it over. While his comment had been brushed aside without any chance for debate, he was offered with a reason. He wasn’t sure it was a compliment though. Somehow, Valko made ‘being nice’ sound like a bad thing.

“It’s always hard at first. I remember how I feared my guts would pour out of me,” Kentaro objected. Surely even Valko had been scared at first. Although... Was this man even able to show fear, or weakness? Kentaro decided it would be safer not to ask. Or even just trying to imagine it. Somehow, Valko may find out. And he seemed like the type of man you didn’t want to anger. “I’m nice but I can be hard too and push them, only we’ll never know until I can actually do it. I’ve trained just like you for this job.” Okay, so maybe not just like him. But he did train and studied powers in order to become a suitable trainer. And maybe people doubted he could push others to perform. It was true he never really showed he could do that...

“Hmm? Oh, voice mimicry, I think they said?” Didn’t sound like something all that tough to train. Or all that hard to master. Kind of an easy first job, just to get a hang of it. Now that he thought about it, maybe it was not the most interesting of case. “We had no problem getting him. If you forget about the girlfriend making a scene because her man was going to be so far away from her.” Maybe she could try do become a mouse shifter or a telepath

[Valko Holt]

Clearly Valko managed to get somewhat under Kentaro's skin. There was a fleeting look that Valko managed to catch on the other man's features. It made Valko smile a little to know he could manage it.

"Too hard?" Valko repeated, glancing back at Kentaro before letting out a chuckle. "You want to see hard, come visit one of my training sessions. Or hell, you could sign up for one." Valko offered with a wolfish grin. It went away soon when he paid attention to his report again. "But look, you're a recruiter and a trainer. The big bosses are going to use you where you're needed the most, and clearly that's with recruiting. Besides, you're new. Think of it as your initiation."

Again Valko snorted. "Course it would be the girlfriend. Whatever people say about young love, it's stupid. It's not like the kid's vanishing from the face of the earth." He growled with a rolled of his eyes. his own recruitment had been interesting to say the least, but there were a number of reasons for that. "Least you got an easy one without having to pry the kid away from their parents or anything. Sometimes it gets ugly. Remember that."

Kentaro Itonokogiri

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[Kentaro Itonokogiri]

Somehow, Kentaro managed to amuse Valko, which was another thing he wasn’t sure was good. Despite not being certain of this, he couldn’t help but feel offended a bit. This sounded too much as though the man was making fun of him and even a carefree person had an ego that could be bruised. He was offered to sign up for one of the man’s session. “Thank you, but my power doesn’t need any more training. Not that it needed any to begin with...” After all, how much lessons did you need to understand that you could stash objects in your belly? One hour, the time to see what you could put in there, and that was about it. Maybe more, just to see how long you could keep something in. He certainly didn’t give a lot of work to his trainers back when he was a student. As for just visiting one of his sessions... “Seeing you in action though, I might do.” He came here in order to observe different methods of training after all. Just because he wouldn’t do things that man’s way didn’t mean he should push it aside without a second thought. If the man got result, it was worth looking into it. He’d just adapt his technique to fit him should he ever use anything learned with Valko.

Initiation, uh? “I suppose they want to see what I can do before entrusting their children to me,” he agreed with some hesitation as he was still thinking about it. He didn't study here after all, he was a stranger to them. Just because he came from a sister school to Bellefonte didn’t mean they’d let him do whatever he wanted. He sighed, as it became clear he would have to prove himself first.

He shrugged as Valko mocked their teenage love. Kentaro was sure he saw a movie about something like this once. There probably were a dozen more. “Everything seem bigger at that age. Must be hormonal’” he replied. He really didn't seem affected by it. It happened, they solved it, poor kids who had to deal with their first heartbreak, but they’d get over it with time. This was his opinion on the matter. He nodded to what Valko said. A piece of advice that, despite knowing it, was one he’d gladly take from the man for once. “He was pretty eager to learn how to keep talking with his own voice and not with from the person he speaks with. Let’s just hope it will keep going as smoothly and he doesn’t lose hope because it doesn’t go fast enough.”

[Valko Holt]

”Suit yourself.” He replied with a shrug, still writing his report before flipping to another page and another student. “Feel free to come watch. Though I warn you from getting too close. I prefer a ‘hands-on’ approach to my training. No better way to get them used to it than using it.” it was how Valko had been trained, so it was how he would train. After all, it had worked hadn’t it?

“If they can trust me to train the kids, they’ll trust you eventually. Just be patient and show you’ve got some grey matter between your ears.” Valko instructed with a little tap to his head, as if Kentaro wouldn’t know what he was talking about. “You’ll get to that point some day.”

Valko snorted at the thought of everything seeming bigger. “Hormonal. Right.” He shook his head at the thought. “These kids have to learn that you can’t snap your fingers and everything magically changes to suit you. ‘Fun’ comes second with powers. Control is what really matters, even if it takes years for it.” Frustration on both the student and the trainer’s part was common in Valko’s job. The phrase of “one step forward, two steps back” could be used over and over again with his own experiences.

Kentaro Itonokogiri

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[Kentaro Itonokogiri]

“I’d say it depends on the power,” Kentaro argued. He shrugged and shook his head. He didn’t say that with the desire to object to anything Valko was saying. “Some are more about controlling yourself to control your power. But I’m sure they’re giving you the ones your methods would be more efficient on,” he explained, using more or less the same excuse Valko gave him to justify why he was stuck to recruiting more than training. Kentaro was certain some of the students needed a more ‘cruel to be kind’ kind of approach. Or, in his case, a ‘drill sergeant’ kind.

Being patronized by him was sort of strange, but it reinforced Kentaro’s idea of the whole ‘cruel to be kind’ or technique the man was using. Kentaro nodded again, letting a small sigh escape his lips after a pause. He had noticed what Valko was doing, the paperwork he had to fill. It reminded of his own. And the torture it was for him. “Reports are the only thing I’m not looking forward to,” he said with a nod towards the ones Valko had to write. Bureaucracy was really annoying. He knew the importance. If he did not file it and someone wanted to get some information about the student, he wouldn’t hear the end of it. That didn’t make it more tolerable.

Somehow, Kentaro agreed with Valko. While he seemed more about fun, he acted as such because he had control of his power. Not that it had been hard to begin with. Still, control was important if you wanted to enjoy it. “I’m sure they learn it pretty quick with you,” Kentaro mumbled. It was not entirely a reproach. The message was important, he simply started to get an idea how said message was communicated to the students by their trainer.

[Valko Holt]

”Of course. The reason they assign these kids to the different kinds of trainers is to find who matches who. That’s probably another reason they’re keeping you on recruiting duty. They’re trying to figure out who you’d be strongest with.” He pointed out with a shrug. Matching a student with the wrong type of trainer was entirely pointless and a waste of good time.

Were they actually agreeing on something? Valko snickered and shook his head. “Believe me, it’s the least fun.” He promised. “But look at it this way; they can’t argue with you too badly for what you write. Long as you put down the minimum requirements, you can make the report as short or as sarcastic as you want. You get used to it.” Valko himself had gotten comments for his reports mainly on the extra information he wrote out. It was a small bit of fun for him to have to poke and pride at the higher ups.

“They have to.” He replied simply. In Valko’s case it was true most of the time. “I usually get the ones who’ve got a harder time controlling their powers. They need to at least learn basic control fast before we can move onto anything else. Otherwise they can cause a whole lot of trouble, and not just in the outside world but the school too." There was enough trouble with maintaining a school without throwing powers into the mix. "I'm sure you'll figure out your own method eventually."

Kentaro Itonokogiri

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[Kentaro Itonokogiri]

Valko did seem to have both brawl and brain with what he was saying. Unless it should only be referred to as common sense. Whichever it was, Kentaro was amused as he considered that Valko may not be entirely as rough as he first appeared to him. And, quite frankly, the idea of turning this bulky man into a teddy bear was pretty hilarious. “That or they focused more on the observation part and less on the exchange one,” he simply said in return, shrugging at it. At least he still had the chance to observe and assist. He just needed to bide his time and hope one of the trainers would back him up. This wasn’t something he liked much but it was still what he had to do.

Could Valko have found a way to make this hell more bearable? “Short eh?... He tapped he lips as the thought went through his brain. “I like that,” he came to the conclusion of, giving a smile to Valko only to remember who this was and putting that smile away quickly with a cough. As long as they didn’t want them to write essays like they used to as students, Kentaro could find some contentment in it.

Kentaro could see that very well. It was a good pairing. “The hotheads too, no doubt,” he added with a smirk. Valko sounded like the military solution people sometimes used. Kentaro had no idea just how efficient it was but surely it worked once or twice. Considering Kentaro didn't wish to really annoy Valko, he figured his method worked. He swatted the air at the man’s way of reassuring him. “Don’t worry about me, I know what I’m capable of. Or, at least, what I’m can do. I’ll take the emotional ones off your plate,” he said with a tone that showed the certainty he had about it. As long as he wouldn’t have to hear them talk about it over and over, he could take that. After all, he was not a therapist.

He put his attention back on Valko, mostly so he wouldn’t put it on the report. “It’s kind of weird, you reassuring me.”