The Serenity of Niko Shinjumaya[Icicle//RiniPinja]

Status
Not open for further replies.
Niko was somewhat unnerved to see the man on the other side of the doorway, but was even more shocked to hear what he was telling him. "A...fire?...WATER!" Niko immediately ran over to the closet and grabbed his two bags of supplies quickly, shoving his headset into one of the bags. He then sprinted over to their other electronics, such as the chargers, the extra battery, the phones, and Serenity's hearing aids, and hastily shoved them into the plastic bag with his headset in it, making sure it was all in the bag before tying them closed as tightly as he could. The fire alarm sent off just before he finished, scaring Niko half to death and causing him to flinch again, just without jumping. With the noise as loud as it was, he knew that Serenity would wake up, so he quickly looked over to her.

As Serenity started to move, Niko frowned and looked back to the entrance. The pillows and blankets which he placed against the door were starting to burn, letting smoke enter the room. He quickly pulled his hood over his head, then turned towards the window and hastily opened the locking mechanisms on it. When he looked out, he was scared to see that they were, indeed, on the top floor, so he frowned and debated what he would do. Once the sprinklers started to pour behind him, he ran over to Serenity and quickly helped her up, pointing over to the window. He then grabbed the sheets of the bed and pulled them off one by one, tying two of the more rough fabric cloths together.

With this make-shift implement, he walked over to the window and dropped half of the cloth out, then looked at Serenity and gestured out of the window. He didn't bother speaking, as he knew that, over the sound of the fire alarm and her own deafness, she wouldn't hear him. Even his eyes were barely able to work with the water pouring around him, so he didn't realize what Serenity was wearing.
 
Serenity didn't know what was going on, and she stood up to try to help. But without being able to hear Niko, and without a complete understanding, she was mainly just freaked out.

But when Niko pointed out the door, she knew he expected her to jump. She glanced out the window, and despite the cloth rope, she shook her head with fear. She fell back, her heart twisting with anxiety. She was never good with heights, and she certainly wasn't good with dangling off the side of the building with mere cloth to keep her alive.

Serenity was about to yell out to Niko that he was crazy, but she turned back to see the fire raging on like a mad bull. Her eyes were wide, and she immediately reached up to cover her mouth to prevent more smoke inhalation. She looked over at Niko, her eyes filled with fear and confusion. She knew she didn't have much time to think about it.

Either jump out the window or burn to death.

"You... go first! And ... D-Don't... Let me fall!!!" She yelled out rather loudly, and although she had no idea how Niko could prevent such a thing, she began to climb down the rope after Niko. She tried her best not to look down.
 
With Serenity's response, Niko felt that he didn't have time to gently ask her to jump out the window. He quickly tied the end of the bed sheet into a bowline and looped it around the leg of the bed, then shoved the bed towards the window as Serenity was desperately looking between the door and the window. By the time she started speaking, he was already climbing out the window with the two plastic bags in his mouth. He could not understand anything which she said, so he was quick in descending to the ground.

The journey down the rope was fairly easy for him, considering his somewhat light weight. He slid down the rope quickly, stopping once he reached the knot half-way down, then shifting his weight to get around it before he continued to quickly slide down the rope. He jumped to the ground once he reached the end of the cloth, falling two feet or so before roughly landing. He hastily placed the two plastic bags out of the way, then looked up after pulling his hood off and wiping his eyes. He now knew what Serenity was wearing as she started to descend the rope.

He blushed hard and looked back down, saying nothing, but held his arms up to catch her on the off-handed chance that she fell. He only looked up once more, when he felt that Serenity was getting closer, and he was cautious to look away from her slightly, only looking to see her in his peripheral vision.
 
Serenity was slow to climb down, and she felt her energy leaving her the longer it took. Her arms were getting weak, and she tried desperately not to look down. Finally, she couldn't do it anymore, and her hands slip from the rope.

She landed on top of Niko with a thud, it was a good thing she didn't have too much to go, or else she might have broken some of his bones. At the landing, though, she held tightly onto Niko, her entire body shivering in fear. She said nothing, and instead, just stayed in the same position for quite some time.

Soon enough, some paramedics surrounded them and eventually, gently pulled Serenity off of Niko. They examined the two children, making sure that their body was not critically injured. Serenity was unresponsive to their questions though, as she couldn't hear them, and instead tried to focus on their mouth as they spoke. She managed to capture bits and pieces, "... alright? ... broken... pain?" so she merely shook her head at all of their questions.

She glanced over at Niko, trying to see if he was alright from the whole ordeal.
 
Niko looked up just in time to see Serenity's body flying towards him. For a brief moment, he thought he had died, and the person whom he saw was his body falling to hell. Then, with a sudden thud, realization of reality rushed to him. It wasn't a very hard landing, seeing as Niko slowed her descent as her shoulders collided with his hands, but her weight quickly forced him to the ground and knocked the wind out of him.

Soon after hitting the floor, he felt Serenity then pin him into place by clutching onto him, trapping his arms and continuing to crush him. He squealed and whimpered from the surprise and the sudden pain, but, as the girl started to shiver, he felt pity for her and his pain started to vanish. He remained still for a few minutes until most of the pain was gone, then started to worry about Serenity. "Can you hear me?" he asked her, trying to lightly bump her head for attention.

He was able, through sustained effort, to wiggle one of his arms loose from the girl's grasp, then started to work on his other arm. He hugged her back, although slightly more gently, and continued to stroke her hair nervously as he waited, knowing that someone would come to help them eventually.

After a good half an hour of nervously stroking the girl's hair, Niko heard the sound of a loud vehicle approaching and saw a few people stream out of the vehicle in question. A few of them walked over to the entrance of the building while a few others rushed over to him and the girl. Niko told the EMTs what had happened, and, with considerable effort, they managed to relax Serenity's grip and free Niko from her grasp. Niko immediately took a deep breath of relief and stood up to get out of the way of the EMTs, despite their insistence for him to stay down so that they could help him. He walked over to the plastic bags and quickly untied the one of the bags. He pulled out Serenity's hearing aids, trying his best to keep his hands dry, and walked back over to her as the EMTs tried asking her questions in vain. "She's nearly deaf, so she uses these."

The EMTs thanked Niko and, after offering Serenity a towel to dry her head with, they gave her the hearing aids and, once they made sure she was alright, they quickly joined the rest of the EMTs at the front of the building, who were starting to tend to a few of the smoke and burn victims which were brought out by the firefighters.

Niko grabbed Serenity's hand and started to pull her along after she put her hearing aids in, saying, "I don't have enough money for us to buy dry clothes. We should get back to the campus quickly." He then led her along to the bus stop and, once they sat down, [if she is still shivering] he wrapped an arm around her shoulder, trying his best to warm her up without making her uncomfortable. After a few mintues, he gulped down his heart and looked at her with despair, declaring, "This is all my fault...I'm really sorry, Serenity...if I hadn't been slowing you down so much, none of this would've happened..."


Once the bus arrived, he quickly lifted her up and helped guide her over to the bus. He pulled out the rest of the money in his pocket, two sopping-wet paper bills, and helped Serenity sit down in one of the seats. He continued to look depressed for the rest of the bus-ride, as if he was somehow helping her feel better by doing so, and quickly got to his feet once they arrived at the campus bus stop. He apologized to Serenity one more time before stepping over to the door of the bus, and quickly hobbled down, limping slightly before getting back into the rhythm of normal walking. He helped her down from the last step of the bus once more, then turned around to find Kamoku staring at them, especially Noelle. He quickly walked a few feet away from the bus as it started to drive off, then got out of Kamoku's way as she hastily ran over and embraced Serenity. Niko, feeling as if Kamoku could help her friend more than he could, then began the walk back to his dorm, still sopping wet.
 
Once Serenity's hearing aids were back into her ear, she was able to adequately provide answers to the concern people around her. Finally, they went to attend to more people that were obviously in need for help, and Serenity held on securely to Niko's hand as he pulled her along. She nodded at his statement, and her face was flushed as they walked down the sidewalks. She was just wearing a bathrobe!!! With her free hand, she pulled her bathrobe closer to herself, although the damp fur did nothing to ease her cold skin.

She felt the stares on the two of them as they rushed past. At least Niko was in his regular clothes, she supposed...

Serenity was very surprised that Niko proceeded to place an arm around her shoulder. She stiffened up at first, certainly not use to his touch, but then relaxed as his warm seeped through. His skin might have also been cold, and his clothes were also still damp, but it was still better than nothing. When he apologized, she immediately shook her head. "No! None of this is your fault, don't think that way!" She frowned over at him, "We just have bad luck, that's all." She huffed a little, slightly angry that he would think of such things.

She followed quickly as they went into the bus, and despite her anger at his apology, Serenity quickly felt bad at his depressed face. "Really," she pressed, smiling a bit. "It's not your fault!" She paused for a moment, as thoughts entered her head. How to make him feel better...? "Despite some of our... encounters... I had fun!" She happily announced, "I wouldn't mind going into the city with you again some other time!"

Once they arrived, Serenity was immediately greeted by Kamoku. She hugged her best friend back tightly, but then glance over at Niko. Kamoku was angry at the boy, and Serenity could tell that she was silently blaming the boy, but Serenity shook her head at Kamoku. "No, nothing happened. It was just a series of unfortunate events."

She watched at the boy hobbled away, but she gave a rather exaggerated wave, "Niko! I'll see you later, at lunch, okay? And, don't forget! We're on winter break, so don't try showing up to class!!!"


For the rest of the morning, Kamoku refused to leave Serenity's side. Serenity spent the morning answering all of Kamoku's prying questions, and she felt more like she was being interrogated. It didn't help that Serenity had a hard time convincing Kamoku that Niko did NOTHING at the shady hotel. Although, she did keep out some of the details, like the TV incident... Serenity didn't want to cross THAT bridge.

By the time lunch time rolled around, Serenity was getting tired. But still, she went to the same cafeteria that they always ate at, and she gathered up some of her favorite food in line. She then sat down at their usual table, and waited for Niko to arrive. When she did see him, she waved at him as he arrived. "Hey, Niko!" She called out happily.
 
Niko turned to face Serenity, stopping in his attempt to walk away as she called out his name. He listened attentively to what she was telling him, then chuckled and nodded, wearing a fake smile. "Thank you, Serenity! I'll remember!" he declared, then he quickly turned and ran off to his dorm, leaving droplets of water wherever he went. The air conditioner on the bus certainly didn't warm him up, but, thinking back on Serenity's words, he felt slightly more content about the situation he previously went through.

Once he arrived at his dorm, he immediately locked the door, ran into the bathroom, stripped of the soggy, blood-soaked clothing and hastily went to work unwrapping and re-wrapping gauze around the few areas of his body which still needed it. Niko thought back to his embrace with Serenity as he was cleaning his chest and arms with the alcohol, re-imagining the situation. "She...she was awake that whole time....so why?...what was it about me..." He thought hard about this until he was done with the much lighter wraps, then inspected himself in the mirror. His legs were no longer in need of bandaging, as the scars which formed over the wounds on his legs were now, more or less, fully healed under the scabs. His arms, chest and back were only still injured because of the events of that morning, so he felt that he would still have to bandage his upper body.

Niko showered off the blood which had leaked past his gauze, then quickly re-wrapped the gauze and, after taking a bag of fertilizer and a bag of spherical, complex containers, he went to work with a few of the other ingredients he bought, filling different sections of the capsules with ingredients...by the time he had filled ten capsules, he quickly put away all the extra materials, including the extra containers of gauze, and walked back into his room to get changed...

---

After awhile, Niko walked out of his dorm in his pair of cargo shorts, a few light scars from the large number of slash wounds showing up and down his exposed legs. He also wore a longsleeved T-shirt under his new, blue hoodie, a T-shirt which was colored green. He had both his and Serenity's phone in his pocket, along with the charger for her phone, and wore his headset around his neck.

By the time he arrived at the cafeteria, it was in the later half of lunch. He smiled at Serenity as he approached her table with a high stack of food, greeting her with a brief, "Hello, friend!" and sat down a seat away from the one right across from her. His hoodie was no longer zipped up, and he was smiling contently as he began to search through some of the pockets in his shorts. "Sorry for rushing off...I forgot to give you your phone and your charger..." he commented, holding the two items out to her, across the table. After they left his hand, he eagerly began to eat.
 
Serenity took the phone from his hands, and she had to admit, she had completely forgotten about it. "Thanks!" She replied happily, placing the phone back into her pocket, then continued to eat her meal.

Kamoku sat on the other side of them, glaring slightly at Niko. Despite Serenity's attempt to calm down the angry girl's nerves, Kamoku still needed to blame someone, and Niko was the person to blame. "You didn't get her dragged into anything, did you?" She asked harshly.

Serenity tried to shove Kamoku's plate a bit to grab her attention, and she also shot a glare at Kamoku. "Stop it, Kamoku! He didn't DO anything. I keep telling you this! So stop being so mean!" Kamoku just scoffed and resumed gnawing harshly on her lollipop. Serenity shook her head at her and turned to Niko, "Don't mind her. She'll probably pout like this for a few more days, but she'll get over it soon." Kamoku scoffed at this statement and Serenity rolled her eyes.

"Anyways!" Serenity perked, clapping her hand together. "Do you have anything planned for Christmas? It's coming up! We can totally have a party together, if you have nothing planned!"
 
Niko nodded slightly after she thanked him, but barely slowed down his process of extreme eating. Even Kamoku's stare barely slowed him down, but her question immediately halted his progress. He wiped off his mouth with a napkin and looked up at her as he swallowed his food to see her intense stare as Serenity defended him once again. The exchange between the two friends was fairly one-sided, with Kamoku silently, constantly demanding an answer from him, but receiving none, and Serenity constantly trying to change the girl's pre-conceived bias against him. Niko was even starting to feel distaste in her eyes, as if he did something inexcusable. His own expression grew pained until Serenity started to perk up, but even then, he had a hint of nervousness whenever he looked over at Kamoku.

At Serenity's question, Niko grew even more nervous and confused. "Christmas?" he asked, but quickly hid his confusion as he looked down at his plate. "Oh, right...that's why we have winter break...I was thinking that I'd just study more and sleep, but I'd be happy to party...if you want me around..." He softened his voice as he said his last comment, sneaking a peek over towards Kamoku before resuming his food-eating. His eyes only lingered on her condescending gaze for a moment before quickly focusing on his food once again, as if he had escaped her threat by delving into his meal.
 
As Niko looked back at Kamoku with his meek eyes, Kamoku just scoffed and looked away. She still seemed angry, but she didn't actively argue about allowing him to attend their party. Serenity immediately shook her head, "Of course we want you there! It'll be more fun that way! Don't listen to Kamoku, she's just grumpy." Serenity then smiled a bit apologetic, then thought for a moment. What could they do for their Christmas party? Each of them had their own room, but none big enough to host anything fun... And all the other rooms were probably going to be taken by clubs... "There's... a Karoke that I want to try out, we should go there!" She finally concluded.

After the decision, she then took out a pen from her pocket and picked up a napkin from her tray. She started to scribble down on the napkin, and it didn't take long before she looked up and passed her note to him.

December 25th. Meet at bus station. CHRISTMAS!!! :)

"I want to make sure you don't forget!" She smiled a bit at him. At first, Serenity didn't think of Niko's amnesia, but after she paper left her hand, she realized it could imply that event. She immediately tried to cover it up, trying to fix the rude action, "just in case you get busy or something like that! Not that I expect you to forget... Or anything..." She mumbled the last part. Why must she be so strange sometimes?

Kamoku, who stayed quiet as Serenity spoke, finally looked over at the two of them. She sighed a bit as she saw Serenity fumbling about. Despite her slight anger towards the boy, Kamoku couldn't hate him. She actually saw him as a friend... sort of. "And if you've forgotten this fact too: Christmas is a time to celebrate with family and / or friends. One of the most basic tradition on Christmas is to give gifts-"

"But you don't have to!" Serenity interrupted, glancing over at Kamoku, who shrugged. Serenity then looked over at Niko, shaking her head. She really didn't want to mention the tradition, because she knew that Niko might have been bothered by it. Especially if he didn't know about it to begin with - there was only a few more days until Christmas, he couldn't be expected to get something now! "It's okay if you don't, it's not required or anything. I just want to hang out!"

Serenity then glanced over a clock up on the walls. She stood up, realizing that she needed to spend some time doing some of her winter-break homework. If they were going to party on Christmas, she had to get started early, or else she'll never get anything done! "I actually need to study now..." She hesitated, not really wanting to leave. But she knew she had to... "If you two want to join me...?" She said hopefully, especially towards Niko, as they shared the same classes, therefore the same homework.

"I'll stay for about an hour, but then I have to go." Kamoku answered, also standing up to put away her own food. She went on ahead to do so, though, as Serenity stood back to wait for Niko.
 
Niko continued to eat his food hungrily as Serenity continued to talk, agreeing with her proposition absent-mindedly, mostly due to his lack of any grasp on the definition of a "carey yokey," or whatever it was the girl had said. Niko finished half of his food by the time a napkin slid over to him from Serenity's hand. He quickly read the contents of the napkin, then shoved it into his pocket and nodded at her before continuing his meal, only able to pick up her smile before continuing to eat. He was surprised by her quick explanation which followed thereafter, and looked up at her after wiping his mouth off, but quickly nodded at her once she started to mumble, commenting, "I'll make sure I won't forget then."

He was still trying to fight his way through a bowl of scrambled eggs when Kamoku spoke up, grabbing his attention immediately. He was somewhat surprised that she wasn't speaking in a hostile tone anymore, but appreciated the change. Her comment about gifts reminded him of the contents of his pocket, and immediately, he took on a grave expression, quickly looking down at his food as he tried to shake the sudden thought out of his mind. Serenity's words helped, and he smiled at her slightly after she started to talk to him about the tradition of Christmas. He thought that he ought to return the favor to the girls anywho, especially Serenity, so he started to think of what he could get them as he continued to eat.

It wasn't long before Serenity started to talk about leaving to study. He looked up at her, still having three bowls of food on his tray and a new, panicked expression on his face. Does she...want me to join her? Or, is she just speaking to Kamoku? Then, after she made her next comment, he hastily sped up the pace with his eating, he thought that the action of his eating would be enough of an explanation. He was somewhat unnerved to know that Kamoku would be there as well, but wasn't particularly against the notion.

Once he was done with all of his food, he quickly rose from his seat, took the dishes over to the carousel, and rushed back over to the two girls, both of whom were now waiting for him. He blushed slightly and said, "you didn't have to wait for me...I need to go and get my books anyway, so I'll meet you in front of Moriotts!" He then jogged out of the lunch room, lucky to not have to avoid as many people as he went along, and rushed out of the doors once he reached them. Niko then raced over to his dorm building and, after reaching his room, tried the door to have the distinct mispleasure of finding it unlocked.

--

Niko arrived in front of the girl's dorm fifteen minutes or so after leaving the lunch room, wearing his standard, long black sweatpants, long sleeved shirt, and his black hoodie to protect his gauze wraps from the sight of others. He waved to the two girls as he approached, covering his neck with his other hand, then apologized fervently for a half-minute about his lateness before following them into the building.
 
Serenity and Kamoku were talking about random school stuff as they waited for Niko. Mainly about the music competition that was coming up, during the winter break. It was a small competition between the different classmates, but all of the musicians took their battles very seriously.

When Niko came up, Serenity just smiled a bit and waved. She blinked as he apologized. "You weren't late at all?" She questioned, not quite sure what he meant. She didn't even remember setting up a time meeting for Niko to be late. "Anyways! We will be using a study room provided by the dorms." She announced, opening the door. She allowed the other two to walk ahead before she followed in after them.

The study room was a small room, set in a hallway on the first floor. There was a portable white board, along with two black boards that seemed unuse. No chalk, marker, or eraser was present. Luckily, Serenity came ready, and she took out a handful of different colored EXPO markers. A large table sat in the middle of the room, filled with the perfect amount of soft padded chairs to fill up the table. There were even more tables off to the side, though they were the folded up kind.

Kamoku sat down at the end of the table and pulled out some of her books. She first pulled out her Music History, and when Serenity sat down next to her, she followed suit. "I don't want to work on the major project..." Serenity muttered and Kamoku slightly rolled her eyes.

It wasn't long before Kamoku noticed that an hour passed. She stood up, gathering her stuff. "I'm sorry, I have to go." She stated simply, "I have singing practice." Kamoku was just about to walk out of the door, when she turned back to look at the two. "Later, I want to talk to you about what has been happening though." She then turned her gaze directly at Niko, "Especially you." Then, she was gone like the wind.

Serenity was a bit surprised that Kamoku said such a thing. "I wonder if she found something out? Or if she's going to drill you with questions again." She gave Niko an apologetic smile.

Serenity then sighed and leaned back, now with Kamoku out of the way, she didn't have to be nagged at to keep working. She looked over at Niko, curious if he was going to keep working. Sure, Serenity had planned to keep on working, but everyone needs a break! She then reached into her bag and pulled out her laptop. She grinned a bit at Niko, "Want to watch random videos on Youtube with me?" As she asked, she pulled up the website.

The 'Recommended' section was filled with videos that contained music of some type. Mostly violin. Though there were some random viral videos as well. Serenity quickly skipped over this page and went to her 'Subscription' feed, which was filled even more with music videos and comedy videos. She clicked on one, by someone named Lindsey Stirling, and she allowed the music to fill the room. Serenity then glanced over at Niko, gauging his reaction as the violin girl danced across the laptop screen.

After the video played, Serenity was hesitant to press on the next video. Instead, she stared down at her hand a bit, which was hovering over the touch pad. She seemed to be deep in thought about something, and was battling some sort of mental battle in her head.

However, some side seem to won, as Serenity then spoke up. "Would you mind... Coming to the music competition later on? To watch me play?"
 
As the group of students walked through the door, Niko looked around with a frown on his face and let his hands relax by his sides. His neck had a thin wrapping of gauze around it, all of which appeared clean from the outside. He tried to "play it cool" and not draw any attention to it, so he continued to walk behind the other two girls. Once he realized that he was frowning, he quickly adopted a somewhat fake smile, and gradually returned to a serious, if not nervous expression as they entered the study room.

Serenity's comment about the project amused Niko, but it also made him more nervous. Was that...supposed to be an imposing project?... he asked himself, thinking back on the two hours of work he put into his, I suppose I'll have to review the rubric in case I missed something... He noticed each second pass as he flipped through the pages of Music History and Psychology - Psychology because he occasionally got bored of Music History and sought something more interesting to do while Kamoku stole all of Serenity's questions about the material.

As Kamoku realized that her hour was up, Niko nearly sighed in relief, but felt a pang of guilt at the thought of his supposed relief. Her ultimatum sent chills up his spine, especially as she swiftly, cooly left the room with her last two words still ringing around in the room. After a moment, he looked over at Serenity, half expecting her to make the first comment. He only found her eyes staring back at him. "Uhh..." he started, suddenly feeling the overwheming force of her gaze and remembering his neck bandaging, "what should we do next?..."

Apparently, the girl already had a plan in mind, so Niko nodded obediently and walked around to sit next to her. As per usual, he had no idea what she was referring to, but a break from Music History was always welcome. He planned on planting in her the seeds of desire to study psychology after their "break" as they watched a girl play violin in what Niko thought to be a massively overexaggerated and pathetically attention-grabbing display of movement. Nonetheless, instead of amusement, interest, or even shock, he stared at the screen with curiosity, attempting to figure out how her bow-strokes could make the sound which he was hearing. Once the video finished, he reached a sudden realization, but swallowed it instead of voicing it as he looked over at his friend.

Serenity's request was met with an immediate, "of course! I was planning on going to that anyway...to watch, not to play..." In the back of his mind, he knew that the video which she showed him had something to do with the performance she would be attempting, but he forcefully rejected the notion in favor of the more pleasing outcome floating in the front of his mind. After a few moments, he looked back at the computer and, with an inquisitive expression, he pointed out, "...that video....the music was nice, but...her bow strokes didn't match the music...why is that?"
 
Status
Not open for further replies.