Kohei Kusunoki

"It’s certainly something.” Gentle laughter spills from the spider teen. She has no idea how many people have expressed surprise since finding out how large his family is. “And it can definitely be fun! If you’re okay with never truly being alone and sharing everything. My siblings are great people, but we fight sometimes. It never gets super bad though! Are you okay with big crowds?” He’s content to quiet his excited rambling when she speaks, listening to her words with avid curiousity. It’s interesting how different their individual lives were, and yet there are so many similarities amidst the differences too!  “Oooh! Ooh! That sounds like fun! What kind of performances are they? Have you participated in them too? Do you like them?” An enthusiastic barrage of questions were formed by Kohei, clearly pleased at the idea of festivities.  The teen puffs up with pride when his makeshift web model is received with warmth and amazement.  “Thank you for letting me do so! It’s not often that I get to talk about things in my village.” He couldn’t help but grin with delight when she calls him a friend. A friend!!! His first friend!!! “Maybe someday...maybe we can uhm..trade pictures? If you want? That way I can show you what it’s like!” 

"You really think so?” Her observation, though slightly misinterpreted, is taken as a compliment and the spider teen practically glowed with happiness at being thought to be cool. “Thank you! It’s scary all the time whenever we do it but it pays off well since it protects the sensitive parts of our skin!”  Kohei doesn’t quite fully understand what it is about his web that she finds so fascinating. At the same time, the spider teen can’t help but be pleased over the fact that someone does find his quirk and abilities useful. After unintentionally wrecking havoc and being a hindrance to society when he first came here, it’s nice to be appreciated for a change!  “You aren’t? How come? I thought you had access to the workshop for stuff? Can people just ban you like that?” A tinge of concern colours his tone. Oh no, that sounds like quite the pickle! And not the tasty kind! When questioned about surfaces his web doesn’t stick to, the spider teen paused for a brief moment. “See my web’s uh...” For a moment, he blanks before trying once more to put his intentions to words. “See my people aren’t like...full arachnids. Our webs are a lot stronger for one so they stick to mostly everything! But glass jars should be fine! As long as you have uhm...a heating tool to put against the side of the glass so it unsticks itself. Do you have something like that?”

Rummaging through several labelled containers he’d stashed on the highest shelf, the spider teen is careful not to spill it’s contents when he pulls them down, depositing each with the help of his additional limbs. The lids were pried open with a proud fluorish, revealing an assortment of marinated insects. “There we go! I have centipedes, silk worms, scorpions, and grasshoppers. Take your pick, buddy! Don’t be shy!” 

In an effort to calm himself and refrain from further panicking, Kohei began chewing his lip anxiously. All eight pairs of eyes are preoccupied, swiveling to take in their surroundings. If the water continues to flow in, there’s a chance both of them might drown and that’s not an outcome Kohei wants for either of them! Time to stop being a quivering worm and do something!  Having no reason to doubt the other and more distracted with escaping, Miru’s lie is taken at face value. Kohei only stops his exploring once his companion speaks again, prompting a nod. “I should be. Here, let me try.” Judging from his companion’s repeated jumps, the spider teen could roughly guess what he had been attempting to do and thus makes a try of his own. Tucking both of his main legs under him, Kohei shifts so that his additional limbs, which were draped neatly against his sides, could move into action with tiny crackling sounds. Settling neatly against the firm ground, they propelled the quirk user upwards. The combined height from his additional spider limbs coupled with the length of his arms ensured that he’s able to reach the gate.  Exoskeleton covered arms gripped hold of the gate. For a moment, Kohei strained, trying to both push upwards or yank the gate open to no avail. Grumbling under his breath, he knocks hard against what appeared to be blocking them in, dislodging chunks.  “Uhm. Something’s in the way. We need to get it off before we can work the gates open. Do you have anything that can help?”

"Gosh that sounds heartbreaking, to be rejected by one’s own kin like that.” The spider teen grimaced sympathetically. Though he supposes that this would be hypocritical for him to say, he did after all, run away from his mother and his own village customs. “Just what did he do that’s so bad? I’m sure he has his reasons?” A thoughtful pause later. “Ah! I didn’t mean to pry, you don’t have to tell me if it’s too personal!”  For the most part, the spider teen makes steady pace with his conversation partner as they walked, though his steps were punctuated with more skittering. He doesn’t make use of his two humanoid looking legs to walk, choosing to tuck them upwards and allow the rest of his spider limbs to propel him forward. “Yeah! Most spiders bite only when they think they’re going to be squished! So if you want to hold one, you just let them crawl on you without placing pressure on them. Then all you have to do is watch their abdomen or their fronts to make sure they aren’t agitated.” He may not be full spider, but he does understand their species well enough from his days in the village to know that they are misunderstood arachnids.  “I never understood that. You know, the whole people hurting each other and doing terrible things. All the fighting just brings a lot of pain and loss. After all, we all just want to live our own lives, undisturbed and safe... Things are so rough. Maybe more so for you than for me. Are you going to be safe?” 

Laughter is met with a confused slow blink from his part. Did he say something particularly amusing? Before Kohei has a chance to ponder over it however, the flow of the conversation is carried forward. “I see! Okay, Mic-sensei.” The teen nods decisively, correcting himself when suggestions are offered. It’s not any particularly different compared to his former way of addressing him but maybe he prefers to sound more relatable to his students. How nice!  "But if you’re on the ground, more scary things can get to you since they’re on the ground too!” The older man’s explanation earned him a perplexed remark back in return. “Wouldn’t it be better if you’re perched up high? Nothing can get to you, except maybe birds or the occasional monkey.”  The spider teen is thoughtful for one moment before he continued.  “It’s weird. Because most people are soft,” An exoskeleton covered finger prods lightly at Mic’s arm. “Very easy to hurt for most predators. But you stay on the ground, you cut off hair that’s supposed to keep you warm and you don’t hunt. Isn’t that bad? Wouldn’t that make things difficult to survive if you got to travel and all that?” 

Oh! She doesn’t seem to mind the return nose tap, so it must be the right thing to do! His companion’s giggly mood is infectious, drawing a smile on the timid spider teen’s features as well.  “Hello! I’m Kohei! Uh...Kusunoki Kohei.” People from the city prefer calling each other by their surnames and only use their actual names when they’re super close, right? Or did he remember wrongly? “Who might you be?”

Though he has no clue what he’d done to warrant this treatment, Kohei leans down to better accommodate her so that she wouldn’t have to stretch to reach his head. He might not be the tallest individual in class, but his additional limbs do ensure that he has extra ‘boosts’ compared to his peers. Once he reaches full maturity, he may be way taller. Adorable? Hopefully not enough to eat. That would be bad. Just the thought of that evokes shivers. “Uh t-thank you.” @shapetrickster

“OW! That hurts!!! Stop it!!” Hands covered the spot he was whacked on defensively to deter another attack. The teen’s lips turned down in a childish sulk. “Of course I’m not going to die from something like that, but it still hurts a lot! So stop it!” Additional limbs are pressed against the vampire’s front, shoving determinedly to create distance between the dreaded spoon and his head.Bat no swiping >:C @raimpire

"Oh oh!!! I have!!!” A hand shoots up towards the sky when he makes the excitable exclamation. “I have!” One of his classmates have shown the little animated spider to Kohei claiming that he would enjoy it’s singing and he does! Lucas the spider is adorable! And it would be nice if other people would come to love spiders like Lucas and himself too! “He’s so teensy and soft looking!” 

"Oh!” A thoughtful expression settled on the spider teen’s features. That makes sense! She’s a tinkerer after all, so if she tries out dangerous stuff, it makes sense to protect herself. “I see! That’s kind of like how we rub the sap of certain trees on us before we handle fire! Except on a much cooler scale.”  Kohei puffs up proudly in confirmation at her excitable echo.  “Yup! It doesn’t! Unless people have the right quirks! Or I cut it down myself.” When prodded, his webbing is quick to stick to her fingers even at the lightest of touches. The spider teen skitters forward, easily leaping onto his giant web. Sharpened exoskeleton fingers are deft and precise as he proceeds to cut down his large web for his companion. But while he had been quick with his work, the spider teen is exceedingly gentle when he leaps off to gently scrape the remainder off her finger tips.  The large web is bundled and held out towards her. “It doesn’t take too long!” Kohei reassures with a beam. “Unless you’re in a rush? You can have the old one first...though uhm....do you have anything i can put it into so it doesn’t stick to you again? We may have to search for something to store this in.” 

@onyomi-miru

Kohei waits patiently as his unexpected companion took time examining his skewered centipede. Sure not everyone is open to trying out insects here, but if they’d give it a chance, they might be pleasantly surprised! He’s rather good with creating delicious food using his homemade recipes after all! What relief the spider teen feels when Chomper sets the bowl down is promptly replaced with bemusement when he ends up swallowing both the centipede and its skewered stick. Oh dear- that can’t be good either. If anything though, Kohei did manage to learn that this curious fellow has not one but two mouths! What a cool quirk to have! The poking prompts a surprised yelp from Kohei. Instead of processing jabs, his sturdy exoskeleton registers faint tickling sensations and the spider teen finds himself squirming and chortling.  “Hey, I’m ticklish!” Protests were interrupted with the occasional giggle even when he attempts to lightly push his companion’s fingers away. Eventually, Kohei succeeds in holding onto Chomper’s hands, though his grip is light enough for the other to break free if he wished to.  “Are you looking for more? Are you hungry?” That must be it, right? “Come with me!” A light tug is given as an indication to follow. “What’s your name? I’m Kohei! It’s nice to meet you.”

"Oh goodness!” Talk about family drama! And Kohei thought his ma eating his step-father was bad enough. What complicated waters they had to navigate, gosh. Fate sure does work in mysterious ways, doesn’t it? There were lots of things beyond the realm of Kohei’s understanding, but he at least knew enough to comprehend that there were lots of tension and fights between them. “I’m glad to hear that things turned out for the better in the end! With luck and patience, maybe all your family members will come to accept him. You never know, right?”  Assured that he will look for assistance when necessary, the spider teen nods in acknowledgement.  “Most spiders rarely bother people. We’re all just trying to live our life and catch our food. Though sometimes our paths cross with others.” It’s only then that things get complicated. For spider folk like Kohei, they’re not squishable. Well...not easily squishable. But actual full grown spiders always run the risk of harm whenever they encounter humans, most hurt only because they’re defending themselves or their territory.  "Yeah! Mhm well...I think children and people with spider phobias find me off putting though, so I mostly do it for them. It’s tiring to hide all the time, but I don’t want people to be upset. Why do you need to hide though? You look human!”