тo ғιх yoυ. ♡

Status
Not open for further replies.

Gore

oh.
Original poster
FOLKLORE MEMBER
Posting Speed
  1. 1-3 posts per day
  2. One post per day
  3. 1-3 posts per week
  4. One post per week
  5. Slow As Molasses
Writing Levels
  1. Beginner
  2. Elementary
  3. Intermediate
  4. Adept
Preferred Character Gender
  1. Male
  2. Female
  3. Transgender
  4. No Preferences
Genres
any kind of fantasy, modern realism, romance/sexual role-plays, some horror, some sci-fi, gore.

  • ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     




    tumblr_n3u0kn3qB01tor0pro1_500.gif



    t o
    f i x
    y o u .



    with @Taichou & @Gore



    JLP2013+-+POST+DIVIDER.png



    PLOT


    muse a has suffered from clinical depression for as long as she could remember. nights without sleep have become the norm; a constant filter of monochrome resting over every little detail of her life has become her usual sight; days without eating, painful scars from broken nights alone, mistrust towards others, mistrust towards herself. it's a tragic mental illness that she can never shake or just 'get over', and few have stopped to understand her.

    muse b is quite the opposite of the tragic mess described above. he lives without the burden of an illness constantly on his shoulders -- his life is filled with optimism, showing off a boy living on cloud nine all the time. of course, no person can be positive all the time; many of his negative emotions are tucked away for later, brushed off to a place where they build and build until he bursts. but, despite this, he keeps up an approachable and social vibe that has made him the ringleader of a well-sized group of friends.

    muse a is on friendly terms with one of the people in muse b's group, and seeing as muse a rarely speaks to anybody, they invite her to join into the group, hopefully to make some new friends. at first she's hesitant about it, but her friend drags her along anyways, introducing her to their friend circle and to muse b.

    a quiet and distant muse a captures the attention of the completely opposite muse b. muse a seems to never interact with others in the friend group on her own terms, and keeps herself away from many in the circle. this intrigues him deeply, makes him curious about why she acted in such a separated manner, like an outsider.

    when it's found out through muse a's friend that muse a has diagnosed clinical depression, muse b takes the information as a challenge that sets a new goal in mind -- to make friends with this mysterious girl.

    this is a story of these muses finding what they're both missing in one another, and building themselves up whilst breaking parts of each other down -- hopefully, to leave their marks on one another in the most impacting ways.

    this is a story about two lost kids fixing each other.






    ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     



  • ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     






    RULES


    we know them. no god-mode, don't be a mary sue or a gary stu, don't be a dick, blah blah.







    ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     




  • ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     







    PLAYERS


    Kaori Mei [ Muse A ] -- @Gore

    Raiden Yuu [ Muse B ] -- @Taichou








    ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     ღ     






tumblr_mzmlcv5Ut01qfxxzto1_500.gif




C H A P T E R
O N E


 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • Like
Reactions: Sinon101


kaori
mei.




Clouds. There always seemed to be clouds in the sky.

The clouds often did change in size, shape, texture, and color; some days, a blanket of blotchy gray covered the sky, and other days, the clouds were thick and puffy like cotton balls drifting lazily across a shade of baby blue. Sometimes, if you caught them in the early morning or on the cusp of twilight, you'd be able to spot creamy oranges, light pinks, deep purples, soft yellows -- almost every color of the rainbow -- cast over every cloud in sight.

The weather was, more often than not, breezy and cool. As the season was drifting slowly into fall by that point, the cold weather was especially noticeable. Luckily, it had not fallen to temperatures where every breath turned into a warm mist quite yet, but those temperatures were imminent on the horizon.

On just another fall day, Katamori High was full of many warmly dressed students, when the clouds were white in a deep blue sky and rays of sunlight were beaming through them to gently glow over the school. Cliques and groups were huddled together, conversing and laughing, joking around as teenagers often do as they enjoyed their short amount of time out of their classrooms. The high school had always been a lively one, with all kinds of students roaming the halls, holding a relatively relaxed vibe for most every student to feel.

However, the person that was at that moment being lectured and begged by their friend was not in quite so relaxed of a mood.

Two girls stood on their own in a wide courtyard, where students had flooded to when the lunch bell released them for a short while. One, who stood practically bouncing in her shoes, had long, dark hair reaching to her mid-back and sparkling green eyes. Though short, she was taller than the girl that she was pleading with to come with her somewhere, her hands clasped together and her expression somewhat pouting. "Come on, Mei-chan! You need to make friends other than me! Just come with me this once, please?!"

" .. I'm bad at friends, Ito."

The soft voice that responded to the high, desperate tone held a hesitant, passive note. It drifted from the shorter girl next to the green-eyed Chou Ito. Her name was Kaori Mei, and she looked nothing like the radiant girl next to her in her short skirt and knee-high socks. Kaori had deep chocolate eyes that nearly melded with her pupils in their dark color; soft, ruffled hair drifted subtly in a light breeze; scarred, small hands were shoved into the pockets of her over-sized hoodie. Her baggy sweatpants never rested their movement in the wind, and she shuffled her feet in her worn out flats every so often, simply out of nervousness of her situation.

Chou Ito had made friends with Kaori Mei a long time ago. She was one of the few better friends of Kaori, one that the short-haired girl could occasionally indulge in about life without feeling quite as judged. Chou was a happy girl, who often came to Kaori for wise advice about her various crushes and her life at home. Chou had eventually come to accept Kaori's strange personality, and now, Chou was persisting in her attempt to help Kaori make new friends.

She wanted to introduce Kaori to her current friend group, consisting of about eight people including herself. Kaori had never, ever been good with socializing -- how she'd even made friends with Chou was a mystery -- but Chou would not relent in her attempts to drag Kaori into her circle.

The green-eyed girl drew in a deep breath and released a sigh, crossing her arms over her chest. "Mei-chan, I'm really trying here! Can you please just give me a one chance?" Chou flung her arms out towards Kaori with her question, taking on a panicked tone as she started to ramble, "I really want you to have more friends, and it'd be awesome for you to meet mine, because you've just done so much for me and you're always so lonely, and it sucks seeing you sit by yourself at lunch all the time, and -- "

Chou stopped talking abruptly. Kaori had stepped forward and gently placed her hands on Chou's cheeks, silencing the dark-haired girl at the cool, light touch. Kaori drew in her own quiet breath, releasing it in a soft sigh and saying in a somewhat defeated manner, "Okay! Okay .. okay, Ito, I'll come with you, just calm down." Her expression was slowly melting into a grimace, somewhat regretting giving into Chou's frantic rambling. The girl really was doing her best for Kaori, and she felt bad pushing away all the expended effort.

Chou's eyes lit up as Kaori dropped her hands back to her pockets, shoving them deep into her hoodie's pouch. " .. But .. you need to remember that you can't expect me to be open -- "

Before Kaori could even finish her sentence, Chou had pulled one of Kaori's hands out of her pockets and was almost dragging her in a different direction, saying cheerfully, "Thaaaank yooou! t's okay, I know, I won't expect you to be open to everyone!" Kaori had flinched at the sudden movement, and she'd almost stumbled being pulled along by her friend -- but, she luckily managed to regain her footing and followed on after Chou with a sudden knot forming in her stomach.

She absolutely should not have done that. Kaori felt herself starting to clam up, her walls quickly forming over herself. She had to be careful. She couldn't trust anybody that she met, and that wouldn't change even for Ito's friends, even though Ito was one of the few people that she had become more comfortable with. Her hand that was still deep in her hoodie pocket clenched in that second, while her shoulders began to tense up uncomfortably.

In the distance, Kaori saw a small group of kids that Chou was making a path towards, and Kaori's eyes immediately cast to the ground in front of her at the sight. She felt one of her habitual shivers run into her shoulders, causing them to tremble violently and make her teeth chatter for a brief moment. It wasn't because of the cold. Shivers often happened when she was feeling anxious. She felt the dark cloud of her depression roll over her mind, dampening her awareness and her mood, knowing that there'd probably be few who were comfortable with Kaori in Ito's group.

"Hey guys!" Chou's light voice called out to the group. Kaori could only assume heads had turned; voices of different pitches and moods called back, "Hey Ito-chan!" "Yo!" "Hiya Ito-san!" Kaori swallowed hard, her eyes flickering everywhere but at the group that the two girls were now quickly approaching.

"I have somebody I want you guys to meet!" After a few more steps, Chou came to a stop, with Kaori freezing in her steps shortly after. Chou's hand was warm against Kaori's very cold one. The brown-haired girl found her eyes glued to the many pairs of shoes that now shuffled and stood in front of her, unable to tilt her head up to meet the eyes of the many people of Ito's group. She felt prickles of stares on her skin, and she shivered lightly again.

"This is Kaori Mei-chan! She's a girl in my homeroom, we met a little while ago and I wanted her to meet you guys." Chou had then glanced over to Kaori, expecting the girl to be looking back at her -- but only finding her eyes focused intensely on the grass below them. Chou's cheerful mood lowered at seeing this, and she let go of Kaori's limp hand, putting an arm slowly around the rigid shoulders of her quiet pal.

Kaori, when Ito placed one of her arms around her, felt the strain in her neck relax just a tad. Ito managed to calm down Kaori fairly easily, as the girl held nothing but good intentions so much of the time. She said in an encouraging tone, "Say hi, Mei, they don't bite." Everyone bites, Kaori's conscious bitterly responded. Of course, she didn't say this out loud, but she knew that Chou was counting on her to introduce herself somehow.

Feeling the knot tighten at a sudden, tiny wave of courage that passed by, Kaori slowly slid her eyes up the bodies of the people in the group. She felt a sense of dread in her heart, as she always did with new people, and her expression was set into something both exhausted and deeply insecure.

Kaori made very, very brief eye contact with each person in the group. There were seven people standing in front of Chou and Kaori, four males and three females. She only got brief looks at their features, not wanting to linger on anybody with her eyes for too long. All of the boys were somewhat tall, with one blonde one standing above all the rest, and the girls were either average or a bit below average in height. Tall people deeply intimidated Kaori, and the wary feeling that she got glancing at each male in the group was a sure teller of this. All of the people were staring at her, as if expecting her to say something.

In that moment, she wanted the ground to open like the jaws of a beast and swallow her up. She hated meeting people, as she was such an awkward person to talk to. But, with Ito at her side, she felt just a tiny bit more at ease. Kaori trusted Ito to make friends with good people, despite her being somewhat absent-minded at times; Kaori knew for a fact that Ito was a perceptive girl regardless.

She swallowed again, almost feeling her legs start to shake. The hand that was hanging at her side lifted in a wave of sorts, and she opened her mouth a sliver, quickly running through what words would be good to say in her head. After a short, heavy silence in the area, Kaori's small voice cut through the quiet as her lifted hand dropped back to her hoodie pocket:

" .. Um .. hi."

Yes, the words were very short and spoken in a rather timid tone of voice, but it was something, at least. Ito seemed satisfied, as the girl knew Kaori was probably not going to have some flowing introductory speech right off the bat, and smiled brightly. The people in the group seemed to have mixed, but mostly positive feelings towards the small girl. Most of them said something like "Hello" or "Hi Mei" or "Good to meet you Mei", as only close friends really used honorifics like 'chan' or used first names for people. The knot was still tight in her stomach as the group responded, her eyes now having snapped back to the grassy ground, unsure of what to do next. Her fingers popped her knuckles lightly in her hoodie pocket, and her feet stood stock still in the greenery below.
 
Last edited:
  • Love
Reactions: 1 person

R a i d e n
Y u u .


Ring.

The sound of chairs scraping against the wooden floors of the whole hall sounded in unison, a rawer of voices began to build, and the uncomfortable screech of rubbing rusted metal from the sliding doors rang through the ears of various student that exited their classrooms to either migrate to the cafeteria, or to enjoy the one of the remaining days of decent weather of what was left of fall.

Raiden, was one of the few who exited the class room, along with his close friend, and baseball team captain, Naito Tamaki. The two teenage boys walked side by side in the hallway, a sight that was usually quite humorous to see, for Raiden was known to be one of the tallest kids that went to this High School, and Naito being a close to a half a foot shorter than him. Naito was different, compared to Raiden. While Raiden has features that show his half-bred Japanese, with his sandy brown hair, golden honey brown eyes, and lightly tanned skin, Naito had more refined features, almost traditional; his hair was a jet black, his eyes were a dark brown framed in dark colored glasses, and his complexion was that of a pale olive shade. The two were opposites, but that is what made the two a sight to glance at during free periods. They received some greetings from some fellow underclassmen teammates, along with a few delicate giggles from random underclassmen girls followed by a proper greeting, and fluttering eyelashes as they would look up at the two teenagers with glittering, starish eyes. Naito would always dismiss them with a nod, and a cold shoulder, but Raiden couldn't help giving out a sheepish smile, along with a greeting accentuated a bit of awkwardness.

"What are you doing?" Naito side-eyed Rai, seeing past his glaring lenses of a blushing senior who was waving goodbye to that small pack of overly happy underclassmen.

Rai turned himself back around, for the girl group already disappeared into their designated classroom, with their bento boxes in hand, for lunch. His smile was still present on his expression as he looked over at the looming Naito, who had a sense of slight irritation hovering over his head. He simply shrugged, stuck both his hands into the pockets of his dark colored uniform trousers, kicked up his heels, and resumed on the ongoing course to the court yard with long strides.

"I was just being friendly," Rai began, pausing only to fly down the two stair wells that led straight outside, where they were to meet a group of friends usually around this time of day, "You always complain about how you don't have a girlfriend, and how girls usually are scared of you." Pausing once more, only to hear the heavy breathes of his significantly shorter friend catching up with him a few seconds later, after racing down four flights of stairs. "Maybe you should try smiling more, then girls wouldn't be afraid of you."

A sharp, and swift sting of pain came from the back of the cheeky teenage boy, for the hand of his Team Captain didn't leave any mercy due to his 'smart-remark', but it was just some friendly advice, or that is what Raiden thought. An uncomfortable laugh came from Rai as he followed behind the fuming Naito who had his own hands in a fist.

"You're so mean Captain, I was only trying to be nice y'know-- hey, don't ignore me-- c'mon Cap, it was only a joke!"

"Will you shut up already" Naito snapped at the whining giant.

The two reached a table that held three girls and two other guys that were already digging into their homemade lunches, and the others unwrapping some bread that was sold at the lunch stand. Rai taking a seat next to one of the guys, and Naito sitting next to him, everyone greeted the two with smiles, and mouths full of food.

"What are you two fighting about now--" One of the girls with bleached brown hair, tied up into a high ponytail that was curled, decorated with a black bow at the top, her face painted with dark eye make up, big lashes, and glossed pink lips, asked while waving some tempura on her chopsticks at the two of them.

"Nothing." Naito barked, as he unwrapped a lettuce, cheese, ham on white bread sandwich, taking a bite that stuffed his entire mouth.

"Captain scared some cute underclassman girls on our way here." Raiden sang. He couldn't help himself, teasing his friend was all the fun he could get when he wasn't getting penalized for it when in practice, or during a game. He took all the chances he could get, just to see what Naito would do when they were in a school setting and physical punishments were at a minimal.

"You're so mean Naito-kun!"

A grumble came from the irritated Naito, indicating that if they didn't hold their tongues, soon enough they would face his unmerciful wrath. Everyone responded with a warm hearted laugh before getting back to their meals.

"Where's your lunch, Raiden? Aren't you suppose to be stocking up on the energy for today's practice?" His friend inquired, taking another bite of his sandwich.

"Uh-- Funny thing is, well, you see Cap--"

A high pitch voice, that was familiar to everyone that sat around this table, came from behind them. Everyone's head looked up and over to see their friend, Ito Chou, coming for them, dragging along another person behind her as she did. Saved. Rai sighed in relief, as the subject was now changed. He didn't want to know what punishment would follow into Naito knowing that he ate his lunch during third period, because he didn't eat breakfast this morning.

A cheerful smile propped up on his expression as he waved over Ito, and her unknown guest. "Hey Ito-chan!" Raiden called back, before everyone else followed in with an informal greeting, before introduced to the new face.

I have somebody I want you guys to meet! This is Kaori Mei-chan! She's a girl in my homeroom, we met a little while ago and I wanted her to meet you guys.

Rai following, as everyone stood up formally to greet the new girl who's name was Kaori Mei. Standing on the end of the line, being the tallest out of the bunch. He noticed how the new girl was beyond shorter than him, although, that shouldn't have been a surprise for a handful of people were shorter than him who went to his High School, but, she was smaller than him in every single way possible. She looked delicate, almost fragile. If he were to touch her, would she break?

He couldn't help but tilt his head in utter, and obvious curiosity at the girl, she was different, a face he never saw before, and usually, he knew or was at least familiar with the faces that went to this school no matter what grade, but she, was completely new. Looking at her with a blank expression as everyone stood in silence, waiting for her to speak, quick pain shot at his side, for Naito had elbowed the staring giant's side, silently telling him to straighten up, and it wasn't polite to stare. Raiden did exactly that, while bringing a hand from the opposite side to rub his slowly bruising side.

When she spoke, her voice was soft. He couldn't help but compare it to that of a butterfly's flutter, quiet, but pretty.

Everyone flowed into greeting her properly, calling her Mei in a friendly, and nice manor. But, Raiden, being who he was, without thinking at all opened his mouth, "Hey Kaori-chan!" He said it nice and loud, loud enough for his friends, the pass-er by-er's, and for the new girl to hear. A smile curled shamelessly on his lips that radiated friendliness.

Another nudge stabbed into his side in the exact same spot, that was to sure leave a good swollen bruise later, but everyone couldn't help but laugh at the situation that was slightly awkward, but harmless.

He wanted to greet the new girl-- why not greet her as a friend, not a stranger?

 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • Love
Reactions: Gore

kaori
mei.


For a minute or two, the greetings sounded fairly normal. It did give Kaori a slight sense of relief; at least the strangers were being nice to her, even if the situation was as awkward as any first meeting might be. Pushed together in her hoodie pocket, her hands were practically wringing each other, her eyes casting to the side in a small rush of paranoia. When nervous, her gaze would often flicker everywhere, as if looking for some kind of spy that was observing her every move.

But, before she could even fully adjust to the polite greetings that were being offered, a louder voice cut into all the rest. "Hey, Kaori-chan!"

At the first word that was projected, Kaori's head whipped towards the source, and her body projected her fear response; her muscles twitched and she flinched inward, as if somebody was throwing a fist in her direction. She remained somewhat curled in for a moment before blinking her squeezed-shut eyes open, and realizing that there was no danger. Oh.

Oh.

She blinked again. Straightening out, she realized that she was the only person who reacted as if it was an attack rather than just a bold comment. Of course she was. Who else flinched at even a slightly loud noise? Fortunately, it seemed from Kaori's point of view that only Ito had noticed the strange reaction. Her eyes had flashed with a concern at the reaction, as her expression also seemed to flicker with similar concern.

Kaori tried to brush it off, reassuring Ito by pulling herself back to a more collected state. She gave Ito a glance meant to reaffirm that she was fine, hoping it would smooth out any uneasiness. It was only then that Kaori glanced back towards the source of the voice, digesting the short greeting that was thrown out into the open. The short, yet incredibly bold greeting.

The source was the tallest boy of the group, to her odd surprise. Usually, the taller that a person was, the quieter they were. That was the archetype that Kaori had grown accustomed to in the people she'd met that were of similar height. It wasn't who he was that mattered to Kaori as much as what he had said. Not only had he used an honorific to greet her, but he'd also combined it with her first name -- a combination that was very .. outgoing to say to a practical stranger. And in a way, intimate, as 'chan' was widely known to be used for very close friends.

In fact, when she'd processed the words finally, she felt her expression become surprised, and a terrible hotness rushed up to her face. An awful, familiar hotness. Her cheeks bloomed slowly with a pinkish tint, following up quickly with a shade of rose. Did he actually just say that to her? A guy that she barely even knew? How was she supposed to respond to that?

Looking now point blank at the boy in pure shock, she saw clearly that the intention wasn't meant to be derisive -- on the outside, at least. His expression was set into something rather cheerful, actually. Heartfelt, in a way. His tone of voice matched it, sending out a vibe of friendliness despite the nature of his words. Everybody else just laughed it off, but for some reason, it really struck the short girl.

Completely unsure of how to respond to this mixture of audaciousness and apparent kindness, Kaori blinked again and closed her slightly opened lips. Her eyes, unable to remain on this odd boy any longer, dropped back to the ground. She couldn't even mumble a response in her state then. She was still blushing involuntarily, as she often did. For a moment, she felt the distinct urge to turn and run away from the group. Her hands were gripping one another in her hoodie pocket again, popping one another's knuckles. The soft pop sounds were difficult to detect as an outsider.

She blinked slowly again, suddenly feeling drained. Socializing tended to do that to her -- just deplete her of energy, even after just a simple greeting. Ito seemed to see this, and she also picked up on the silence that was forming between everybody.

"Ah -- so how about you guys introduce yourselves to Mei-chan?" Chou's arm was still draped around Kaori, and one of her hands slowly and gently rubbed Kaori's right shoulder. It was a comfort. Being with somebody that she knew helped Kaori feel at least a little more sure in her actions. Feeling the lack of energy slowly threatening to take its toll, Kaori took in a deep breath and managed to crawl her eyes back up a small ways, and she eventually managed to drag it to the faces of the strangers in the group.

Her eyes flickered towards the tallest one again, who'd greeted her so comfortably. She was somewhat nervous about him, unsure if his words were secretly meant to make fun of her or something. They darted away upon realizing that he was watching her back, hoping that the kids would get on with their introductions quickly. She wanted people to be talking. It filled an uncomfortable gap made by expectant silence. She silently thanked Ito for bringing up another topic to talk on.

 
  • Love
Reactions: 1 person

R a i d e n
Y u u .


Slipping his hand up, and rubbing it into his throbbing rib cage, his once cheerful smile hinting now a grimace of pain. He cursed at Naito endlessly in his thoughts, but did his best keeping up his usual nice persona in front of the new girl, but, a side glance that silently said a friendly threat met with the unbeatable glare of Naito's glasses flare that returned a silence response of: 'Don't blow it in front of the new girl'. Rai's shoulders stiffened a bit, Geez, what a scary guy... I was only being friendly. It felt like he has been saying that phrase all day, even though, it was true, Raiden was only being friendly in the most 'out there' kind of friendly way. Nobody was a stranger to him, and he didn't treat anyone like a stranger to begin with, supposedly you could say that is what made Raiden so 'popular' in the first place- his 'no restriction' outward personality is what made him shine.

Inhaling deeply, he could feel when his lungs expanded, push against his, almost positive, bruised ribs. Exhaling slowly out, his honey brown eyes slowly refocused back towards Ito-chan, who's expression looked worry some as her own focus was on Kaori Mei. He couldn't help but let the confusion contort his expression to make it painfully obvious that he fully didn't grasp the situation well enough. His gaze shifted, only to meet the darkest iris's on the smallest girl he has ever seen that was close to his age, or maybe even the same age as him. There was a silence that slowly flooded in between the two girls that stood in front of the small group of seven, now growing to soon be a group of nine.
She didn't blink while her gentle stare daggered straight at him. Why was she looking at him with such shock? Did he really startle her that much? He watched as her once parted, pale lips slowly closed together, seeing her cheeks glow brighter and brighter with a rose tint that made it so noticeable on her complexion. He embarrassed her, and watching her react to it, made him feel embarrassed. It wasn't until a short few seconds later, her eyes dropped downwards, avoiding his, and everyone else. He wanted to apologize, but even he knew, even though being known for not having a filter some of the time, he shouldn't say anything about how she was reacting so shyly, even though she had every right to be.


He brought a fist up to his mouth, before opening his mouth to say something just to stop the silence that made his body feel even more tense than it was before. The sound of Chou Ito cut through the silence first, before Rai even had the chance. His shoulders slowly relaxed as the question was surely going to bring up conversation between everyone, Finally.

Ah -- so how about you guys introduce yourselves to Mei-chan?

"I suppose I'll start..." A deep voice started after, the sound of a small clicking coming from his glasses as he pushed them up before beginning his introduction, "Tamaki Naito, age seventeen, captain of the baseball team. You can call me Naito--"

Being suddenly cut off by a high pitched voice that had the tone of someone who could be heard on the television for being some sort of outgoing, uprising idol, she didn't look far from being one either. It was a girl who slightly tall for being a female, slightly under Naito's height by two to three inches, with a envious body figure, a pretty face with fair skin complexion, who had noticeably dyed long hair that was tied up in a high ponytail, accessorized with a black bow, and wasn't a stranger to make up, she was the splitting image of your typical pretty school girl. She smiled, flashing her white perfect smile and began her own introduction, "Don't be afraid of him, he may come off as a over formal hard ass, but he is teddy bear at heart. But as for me, call me Nami-chan! It is short for Ao Nanami, and I guess I have to say my age too? I'm sixteen, nice to meet you, Mei-chan."


"O-Oi! N-Nanami! Don't be calling me a hard ass--"

The sound of laughter filled the group of them all, as the cut stone Captain lost some of his hard edge image, making it a bit easier to breathe between everyone. Raiden couldn't help but laugh at the situation, it was all so normal, just like it always is, he just couldn't help but think, what was Kaori feeling about all of this? He glanced over at her, only to catch her gaze once more. Slightly shocked that she was looking over at him again, he could feel heat warm his own cheeks, but it wasn't long until she looked away again after, but he couldn't find it in himself to look away from her this time. While everyone's attention was on the usually bickering Nami and Naito, he silently watched her for any sort of expression that would surface, or to maybe even see if she'd look back at him again.

"Yo! I'll go next!" A male voice began, cutting through the laughter, bringing everyone's attention on to him, he was a short kind of guy, shorter than Nanami that is, but matching the height of the other girl that stood next to him, and a bit taller than Kaori. His skin was a darker than the others, and his hair was shaved to a buzz cut. His build was small, making it obvious he was a stranger to physical activity, but yet, he still managed to maintain a weak and quite frail body structure. "Akio Daisuke, mainly people just call me Aki, or something like that-" he paused, putting in his own, slightly awkward, laugh before continuing. "Proud member of the computer club, and um- I'm seventeen."

"U-um.." A soft voice came through. "I suppose I should go next... Hello, Mei-chan, my name is Ren Mariko, but everyone calls me Mari... I'm sixteen... Let's be great friends, ok?" Mari was small, but still holding an inch or two over Kaori. She had dyed blonde curly hair with two pink barrettes pushing back her bangs to the side, her eyes are big with light brown iris's, her complexion was very creamy, her build is slightly petite, while wearing very lolita like makeup that made her sort of look like the baby of the group, even though she was the youngest in the group. Although Mari does come off shy, and quite bashful, she is very kind, sort of like the care taker of the group, even though she is usually picked on for having a high pitched voice of that of a generic anime character.

"Geez Mari, coming off so cutesy like, you aren't so innocent, y'know."

"OI! DON'T MAKE FUN OF MARI-SAMA!"

"Whoops, forgot that the fanboy protector was here, sorry sorry Aki-chan."

"F-fanboy... Protector.. Don't be ridiculous! Mari-sama is just an important friend! An important friend!"

"A-Aki- please don't call me Mari-sama... It is embarrassing..."

The laughter began to go once more, while Daisuke tried to make Mariko not so embarrassed anymore.

"Alright alright, my turn." Raiden began loudly, a smile beaming on his expression. "Raiden Yuu, but I personally go by Rai, you can even call me Rai-kun if you want." He could already feel the eyes rolling as he spoke, he couldn't help but turn a bit sheepish, "I'm seventeen, and I'm on the baseball team. Hope we can be good friends, Kaori-chan." He spoke directly to her, as his hands went into the pockets of his uniform trousers. "Next is--" Pausing, before bending over to look down the line towards the end, a tall guy that towered over Mariko, who was also rivaling pretty closely to Raiden's own height. "Oh, yeah, Class Pres, your turn."


With jet black hair, long, and straight, barely touching fabric that draped over his shoulders that was the respectable school uniform blazer, he had grayish blue eyes that felt icy to the glance framed by steal outlined glasses; he was foreign as well, a half breed like Raiden, the only difference between the two was, their personality. While Raiden was the sociable, sunshine of the school, he was more of the gentle reserved snow. "My name is Orochi Yuki, seventeen, class president. Nice to meet you, Mei-chan."

"Short and sweet as usual." Nanami couldn't help but add a side comment after Yuki's intronduction. But it was true, Yuki was one of the quiet ones of group, or more likely is the quite one of the group, you could consider him the wall flower who is there, but doesn't really say anything on the matter, or really contributes to anything. He usually keeps to himself about a lot of things, the only people that actually get a conversation out of him is usually either Nanami or Ito. But even if he opens up, there is a sense of mystery to who he is, and what actually is he made of. Sometimes it just feels to him that he is just taking up space, but at the same time, he couldn't see himself doing anything else, so he decides to stick with that group just to pass the time, and usually, they don't forget to include him. It is a friendship that is complex between himself and everyone else, but doesn't raise any questions, well, none on his part.

"I believe that is everyone."

"Yup!"

"Does... Mei-chan want to eat lunch with us?"

"Right, it is lunch still, there is some time left to eat still, she should join us!"


Everyone looked at Ito and Kaori Mei, waiting for some sort of encouraging response to come from Ito, or maybe even an agreement to come from Kaori. But, as they did wait respectably, a voice cut through the anticipated silence, "Yeah, Kaori-chan will join us." Raiden began, smiling as usual, "We didn't all just introduce ourselves for no reason. We're all friends now, so she has a permanent spot at our table, no need to ask."

"Don't go making decisions for other people-"

"He has a point."

"Hey! Don't go agree with this guy! It is respectful to wait for an answer--"

"Hey Nami-chan, do you have any extra tempura or something, I'm starving." Raiden groaned, while everyone made their way back into their seats at the outside lunch table, leaving Naito the last one standing, before he just sighed in a frusterated defeat and returned back to his spot next to the whining, and starving, giant.


 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • Love
Reactions: Gore

kaori
mei.



Kaori dearly wished that she wasn't as awkward as she was. Out of everything about her that she could change, her lack of comfort in social situations was the thing she'd want gone with. The boy making a bold move wasn't even that big of a deal. Now, here she was, causing uneasy silences as she always seemed to do. She felt terrible that Chou had to be the one to break the silences and include her. Nobody deserved that responsibility. Luckily, the tension snapped after Chou broke in again. Kaori was thankful, even though she'd been the one to cause it in the first place. Trying to loosen up a little, she made her hands still in her pocket and rolled her shoulders to release some of her tension. Chou had brought her there to socialize, and for anybody to bring Kaori Mei with them on their own free will was a feat in itself.

One of the boys started out, the one standing next to the tallest. He was average-sized, with black hair and glasses that framed stern, but authoritative brown eyes. He seemed a little cold, but she got the feeling that he was trying to be friendly in that moment, and Kaori appreciated it. His name was Tamaki Naito -- so, she'd call him Naito. His voice radiated authority, as the rest of him did, but he didn't even finish his introduction before another, much different voice cut in. Glancing over at the tinkling tone, she traced it to a tall, lean girl who carried the look and expression of a model. Long, dyed blonde hair was held in a black bow, with sparkly eyes and a bright voice. She promptly called Naito a hard-ass, informing her of his tsundere-esque personality before introducing herself as Ao Nanami, or Nami-chan for short. She called Kaori 'Mei-chan', and despite the blush that appeared as a product, Kaori herself wasn't as surprised as before. She seemed nice, and Naito also seemed very kind, despite the cold exterior he put on. She was reminded of herself -- perhaps he just needed somebody who'd listen to him to open up more.

Her thoughts were pulled out of her vague interest, back to the introductions. The spotlight moved to a short, skinny boy with buzz-cut hair and a bouncy, yet slightly reserved aura to him. His name was Akio Daisuke, and he was a member of the computer club. It wasn't a surprise; he didn't look like the type to exercise daily, but she felt as though he made up for it in intellect. Kaori remained silent the whole way, but she so far was already analyzing and figuring out ways to get along with these kids. Maybe they were just ploys to avoid getting on their bad sides, maybe genuine interest in being their friends -- either way, it helped her relax a little more in the face of socializing. Her hands slid out of her hoodie pocket and moved to the two pockets of her sweatpants, a motion to make her look a little less tense, hopefully.

The next person was a girl, with a delicate voice and a very pastel-flower-child look to her. Slate blonde hair was in curls and pushed away from her face with soft pink barrettes; light, translucent brown eyes were bright in the light of the afternoon. She was very pretty, in a doll-like way, and the sweet, shy tone of her voice was very reassuring to Kaori. At least she wasn't the only quieter one of the bunch. Her name was Ren Mariko, and she seemed very nice, but Kaori knew for a fact that the nicer ones were always the more deep and emotional. Kaori felt as though she had to be gentle with her, and she kept that in mind for later. Some banter was passed between the kids, and Kaori felt her lips twitch with a little smile. They obviously were good friends. Kaori could tell by the flow of their words. Strangely, the atmosphere felt real, too; their laughter and friendliness wasn't as fake or fabricated as she'd expected it to be. It calmed her quickly-beating heart. Being with Ito also helped immensely.

The introductions moved on to the tallest of the group, the one who'd given her the greeting without any boundaries to it. This made the very faint smile go away, only out of her mix of curiosity and embarrassment. Her shoulders tensed a little, but she still glanced to him anyways, to study him a little more than before. His blonde hair was messy and long, falling over a set of kind amber-brown eyes. His figure was obviously tall, and lean, but well-toned and athletic. There was a certain confidence to how he stood, but there was also a different feeling that she got from him that she couldn't really decipher. His name was Raiden Yuu, or Rai for short. He seemed like the kind of person who was way out of Kaori's league in every sense -- even though every person was, he seemed higher up on that scale. His voice was very open and friendly though, and he appeared to be genuine in his offer of friendship. He just .. seemed very opposite to Kaori, in her eyes. Despite this, she swallowed her doubt and gave him the same silent greeting in her eyes as she'd given the others. He seemed nice, despite everything.

Raiden moved on the introductions to the last person in the group. He was another tall boy, one who appeared close to the same height as Rai. His hair was black, like Naito's, and his eyes were also framed by glasses, colored a stormy steel blue. He was unique, in that Kaori couldn't get much of an impression from him at first glance. He seemed like the reserved type, but something about him struck Kaori as .. mysterious. Unsolved. His eyes met Kaori's before he introduced himself in one smooth, simple sentence. His name was Orochi Yuki. Kaori, for a moment, couldn't look away. Something about him interested her. For some very odd reason, Kaori felt as though he could be a very good friend, or a very daunting enemy. She'd have to be careful.

Nami added in her two cents after his introduction, and once she finished, the others seemed satisfied with the intros from everyone. Ito had glanced aside at a distant Kaori, and Kaori eventually noticed and glanced back at her, blinking twice. In an act of reassurance, Kaori offered her a tiny smile, as if to say 'I'm doing okay'. Chou smiled back. Kaori felt a little more contented, with the fuller introductions from the other kids. She'd probably need to ask their names once or twice again before she got them down.

Naito cut through the small silence with, "I believe that is everyone." Then, the rest cut in as well, before Mari suggested softly that Kaori sit with them for the rest of lunch. Everybody seemed to perk up in agreement .. but Kaori herself stiffened in surprise. Oh dear .. She felt herself become a little flustered, unsure of how to respond. Should she? She didn't want to be a bother to them, or bring down the mood, but she didn't want to make Ito leave them again for her being stubborn. Everybody glanced to her expectantly, and Ito held her gaze on Kaori as well, unsure if she was prepared to respond to the offer on her own. Kaori's face, which had calmed to it's normal pallor, was tinted pink again as she stuttered, "U-um -- " What would she do -- ?!

"Yeah, Kaori-chan will join us."

Again, Kaori was silenced in surprise. He'd called her that again. Her eyes flickered back up to him. But .. no, this time, she wasn't as shocked. In fact, watching his warm, sure smile, she found herself slowly leeching away the anxiety and cooling down. Somehow, she was thankful for him deciding for her. She couldn't have decided on that herself. Some part of her had been irritated at his use of the more intimate title, but her gratitude overtook it. She quieted down and fell silent and still, and Ito seemed to relax as well, also thankful for Rai's opportune intrusion. If it helped Mei, it helped Ito.

Naito, on the other hand, didn't agree quite as much. He was looking more towards being respectful, and as it usually seemed to go, he was left in the dust with agreements from the rest of the group. Kaori felt a little bad for him. He seemed to get ignored a lot, and that bothered Kaori a bit. As the group began transferring over to the spot they were at before, Ito gently patted Kaori on the head. "Hey, it's okay, you're doing good." Kaori glanced to Ito, meeting her bright green eyes and calm expression. She was conflicted for a moment, but in the end, she nodded gently to the girl. She was very thankful, deep down, for Ito's vigilance in getting Kaori to meet other people a little more, and she felt that Ito knew that.

As the two trailed off with the rest of the group, Kaori glanced towards Naito, who'd walked defeatedly to the table with the rest of the group. She felt guilty. He was just trying to be nice, and he seemed to get brushed off half the time. An urge intruded, but she hesitated at it. Should she approach the boy? Nami had told her to not be intimidated by him, but he really was a daunting person, with his serious demeanor. Thinking about it, and stopping in her footsteps, she decided that it couldn't hurt to at least thank the boy for his attempt at respect. She slowly walked to the empty space next to Naito, and sat down with Chou sitting on her other side. Kaori felt a little awkward for a moment, unsure of how to go about what she was about to do. Her hand lifted, hesitated, and then gently rested on the side of Naito's arm to get his attention. " .. Th .. thanks. For .. for trying to be respectful. I appreciate it." Her eyes struggled to stay on Naito, and eventually, she retracted her arm quickly and glanced away in her shyness. She hoped she wasn't being annoying. He really did seem like he was trying, and she didn't want him to feel like it was in vain.

She fell into silence then. Everybody was getting out food around her, leaving Kaori to be one of the only ones without anything to eat. It didn't cross her mind too strongly; she usually didn't really eat anything during the day. It did make her feel a little more secluded, however. She adjusted herself in her seat a bit, the drained feeling returning, and rested her arms in the empty space in front of her, resting her chin down on them. It was the normal position that she took when she sat down, with eyes cast towards the table beneath her. She pulled in a deep breath and exhaled through her nose, occasionally glancing up to watch the others around her briefly.

 
  • Love
Reactions: 1 person

R a i d e n
Y u u .


"Are you kidding me? There is no way I have food for someone like you, you'll eat it all before I have the chance to even divide it out-" She protested with a scowl resting on her pretty face, her lower half shifted towards Mariko, bumping legs with the doll-like girl who was picking the vegetables out to find the meat in her bento.

"Please please please please-"

The feeling of cold plastic hit the begging giants arm, causing a sudden halt in his constant pleading. His eyes rolled from the back of the head of his rejecting savior, to his new beacon of light, which was, Naito's other half of his ordinary sandwich. There was a slight sting to his eyes, a tear threatening to roll down from his cheek, for this random act of kindness from a long time friend. It was almost to dramatic for the on-lookers to bare, but for the one who was living it, he didn't care. His hands went for the half of the sandwich like a flip of a switch, without even thinking, the whole thing was inhaled in like a vacuum into his mouth, with barely any room to spare. "Thank you," he managed to barely push out past the still solid food stuffed in his mouth, but still managed to hint the tone of pure bliss.

Naito kept his head down keeping his comments to himself after his sacrifice , accepting the appreciation along with the silence that went along with it. Although, left with a half of his once whole sandwich that was his entire lunch, he knew he wasn't going to go completely hungry, for he did pack a snack that was going to be devoured before practice later on in the day.
Picking up the sandwich, he took a bite in his own silence, listening to the ongoing conversation between the group around the table and outside of it well. There was a point where everything was merging together, sounds, voices, surroundings, it was a common thing when Naito was within his own space, his own thoughts. A deep thought, where there wasn't a specific thing that he may be thinking about, for he was just thinking about anything, possibly everything of the matter. A relaxing state, is what this may be called- until disrupted by a gentle touch of a hand on his arm that sat stiffly on the table.


He blinked once, twice, another time, until his consciousness un-muted his surroundings, his eyes shot like daggers to the source. A hand, a small, pale, dainty hand that stood out brightly against the dark color of his uniform. It was an unfamiliar hand, a strangers, or just a hand that he hasn't gotten use to yet. He trailed up, to the owner of this timid hand, only to meet the soft gaze of the new girl who went by Kaori Mei. He blinked once again, one more time, before his other hand that held the sandwich, dropped the piece of food on the napkin, and went to push up his dark framed glasses off the middle of the bridge of his nose. He swallowed dryly, closing his mouth to keep it from gaping open in a bit of shock- well, to keep it from looking like he wasn't caught off guard.

.. Th .. thanks. For .. for trying to be respectful. I appreciate it.

Her voice was so soft, almost as if he couldn't even hear it over the other handful of people that surrounded the two. Before he could even accept her thank you, her random act of kindness towards him, her delicate hand was already gone, and her eye sight shifted away, focusing on something else. It took Naito a good few seconds to comprehend what happened. Then, following, it wasn't to long until he could feel his bashful nerves over take his expression, a feeling that he would always get when in a one to one interaction of that of the opposite gender. Heat rose on his cheeks, his body became instantly stiff, his shoulders were chiseled and his head shot down, directly towards his lap.

The feeling of embarrassment was something that always threw him off, it made him feel vulnerable, at the mercy of the one who did this to him, not only that, but for the people who managed to get mixed up in this escapade and are a spectator to this strange, almost completely out-of-character experiment that was Naito. Wanting to hide underneath the table, his eyes caught movement out of the corner, casually glancing at the legs that were from Mei, he watched as they shifted into a more of a comfortable position. Slightly lifting his gaze up to see her better, pushing up his glasses in the process, she was bent over the table, arms crossed, and her chin resting on them. She seemed relaxed, better than he was, but it didn't take long until his nerves began to simmer down.

He saw that she wasn't eating, only watching everyone as they all intermingled with each other, just like any other day. She must be hungry. Was the first thought that entered his mind after a few moments of silence.

It was almost like a instinct, something that he didn't even have to think about or even have the chance to over think it. It was already on the table. Two rice balls wrapped in plastic, his snack that he was saving for later, was on the table, placed in front of the new girl, Mei, as an offering, a silent thank you to the girl who appreciated his efforts when everyone else brushed him aside, like they always did.

"Take it." Naito said sharply, before taking a bite of his sandwich, swallowing it, and pushing up his glasses avoiding eye contact from the girl, for he knew that his cheeks would blaze a deep red. "Please. It is just extra food that I won't eat, so take it." His voice went soft as he continued, glancing quickly over at the girl, then back at his sandwich, shoving the remainder of it into his mouth, silencing himself from saying anything else.

The sound of Naito's voice perked the ears of the teen who still thought he had a chance at getting Nami's left over tempura. He released the wrist of the resisting girl with a piece of tempura lodged in a chopstick trying to distant itself from the attacker, leaving her in a bit of confusion as it happened. Raiden shifted towards Naito, who's mouth was inflated with food and his face completely glowing bright red, and a girl who had Naito's moms perfectly made rice balls displayed in front of her. The scene looked, different, almost a bit surprising, enough to make his eyes widen that formed the expression he was feeling.

Raiden raised an eyebrow a new expression morphing into something more questionable, his arms crossed over his chest, letting a stare switch between the girl and ending on Naito before he opened his mouth, "She just got here, and you already are hitting on her. And you say, I have guts."
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • Love
Reactions: Gore

kaori
mei.


Kaori hadn't noticed Naito's tomato-red face and blown away reaction next to her -- she had just thought he would take the gesture, perhaps coldly, and leave it at that. He didn't seem much like the kind for an abundance of physical interaction anyways, and she tended to assume the worst with basically everything. She couldn't bring herself to look at him again, for the time being. She was too worried about his response to do that. So, the girl simply allowed herself to remain in her position. Slowly and progressively, her eyelids drooped, feeling the pull of sleep coming on. Kaori had an awful habit of falling asleep in random places. Sometimes, she thought it was narcolepsy -- chronic drowsiness during the day -- but she had a strong feeling it was just her depression. She had grown used to it, and didn't fight it at this point.

Before the small girl could fall into a nap state, a shift in the view in front of her made her eyes snap back open, surprising her. Sat in front of her by a sharp, stiff hand were two of the most beautiful onigiri she'd ever laid eyes on. She blinked and rose her head in complete shock, glancing aside at the person who'd put them in front of her -- and, evidently, it was the very same boy she'd been fearing just a couple seconds ago, Naito. His expression was stern, and his eyes were on her, making her shoulders droop inward to her normal tense position, as if shrinking away. "Take it." Her head twitched to the side subtly, feeling a bit threatened by his tone of voice, like a dog who'd just done something wrong. The boy took a quick bite of his sandwich, adjusted his glasses, and continued speaking to her.

"Please. It's just extra food that I won't eat. So take it."

She blinked, still stuck in a state of surprise. Slowly, with her cheeks growing redder and redder, she looked at the rice balls, registering what his gesture was. And when she realized, she seemed to react with a tiny notion of horror at the sight of the food.

As if an automatic instinct, she began to protest, her voice rising a bit in anxiety, "I-I - " But, suddenly, she stopped herself from reaching for the onigiri to give them back. That was quite a rude thing to do, push away a kind gesture just because it conflicted with her habits. It wasn't at all obvious to the onlookers surrounding her, with her baggy clothing, but Kaori was an extremely skinny young woman -- too skinny. She practically never ate, to the point where she could be considered borderline anorexic. Why she didn't eat was a mix of excuses and reasons -- she just didn't feel hungry, she didn't like whatever food she was being given (which was all food), etcetera, etcetera. The real reason was that those little pessimistic voices in her head always told her that she didn't deserve it. And they were speaking up now, trying to get her to push the food away and continue going hungry.

But .. this time, like a rare few other times, she won. She couldn't push away a kindness, from this boy especially. It felt like it was difficult to do that, with the tenseness in his features and the red in his cheeks making it more obvious. She could be a normal human being for once.

" .. Thank you." Her voice was back to its soft tone, except now it held a notion of gratitude, to reaffirm her thanks. Her hands slowly reached out to unwrap the lovely onigiri, gently pulling the Saran wrap open, before they hesitantly took one of the fresh rice balls. She was handling it more like a small, frightened animal than anything, as this was a bit foreign to her. She did eat sometimes, enough to keep her alive and to give her et least a little meat on her bones, but not nearly enough. The girl rose the onigiri to her lips and took a very small bite off of the side, giving the onigiri a taste.

Her eyes had closed, but they opened wide with appreciation and wonder. When was the last time she'd eaten something so calm and good? When was even the last time she'd eaten at all? Maybe two days ago? She couldn't even recall, but the rice ball she ate now made her remember how nice it was to eat. She swallowed, and took another bigger bite, enjoying the texture and flavor of the rice ball as she chewed slowly. You could have sworn she was eating the most rare, expensive food in the world with the way she was handling it, sucked into the moment.

It was even evident to people other than Kaori that this was a special moment, indicated by the shocked gaze of Cho now on Kaori. Cho never saw Kaori eat at school -- maybe once or twice, but those occasions were very few and far between. Cho had always had a feeling that it wasn't necessarily healthy to not be eating basically all day, every day, and now, Cho's gaze moved to the boy who'd given it to her. It was Naito. Her gaze shifted, to become a grateful one, as her eyes rested on the boy. She herself had never been assertive enough with Kaori to get her to eat anything, and she was very thankful that Naito had managed to coax her into it somehow. Or maybe it was just Kaori accepting it to be nice .. but it was obvious with the uncharacteristically content look on Kaori's face that it was the right decision. She was really enjoying it.

As Kaori slowly ate the first morsel, Raiden, the tallest of the group, spoke up about Naito. "She just got here, and you already are hitting on her. And you say I have guts."

Kaori stopped, freezing in her spot. Her cheeks bloomed red and her eyes shot open. What? In her surprise, her eyes turned towards the boy who looked with a scolding expression towards Naito. Cho also heard Rai's comment, and her gaze went from doting on Naito to irritated on Rai. Sometimes, that boy really got on her nerves. She tried hard to be positive, but it felt like Rai sometimes just had to not talk. Of course, Cho knew it was once in a blue moon that Rai was quiet about things. Before Cho could speak up, she noticed that Kaori's hands were noticeably shaking with the rice ball in them. Her expression shifted immediately to concern. What was going on? She began to ask softly, " .. Mei? .. "

"You - " Kaori's voice shook. A surge of something she usually didn't express washed through her -- indignant anger. Why was Naito always singled out? Even just in the short time she'd known this group, they all seemed to gang up on the boy when he tried to do anything. She set the half-eaten rice ball down shakily, her hands clenching into fists for a second, feeling a force take over that usually was kept locked back into the depths of her heart. Her hands opened, pushed down against the table, and she shot up, standing now with a sharp gaze turned onto the boy who looked down at Naito that way. Her voice shook, but held a determined, straightforward tone as she rose her voice and spoke.

"You need to stop being so mean to him."

Cho, and basically the entire table, fell silent then. She absolutely was no match for this boy. His height alone scared her, as it was his first advantage in terms of a fight, but in that moment, the worry of all of that was gone. Naito was so much like her -- difficulty speaking up, singled out by everybody.

But as the anger passed, and the silence became more noticeable and evident, Kaori realized what a mistake she'd just made. Her expression began to cool, and shift to a look of half horror, half pure anxiety. Her tall stance shrunk back down as she looked around at the people of the table, feeling a sense of dread. They'd all hate her now, especially the tall boy. What if Cho hated her too? A flustered nervousness overtook Kaori, completely taken aback by her own behavior. "H-he was just being nice -- I -- " She stepped away from the table, still stood. "I-I'm sorry -- I'm sorry -- " Abruptly, Kaori spun herself around and walked fast away from the table, a petrified look on her face. God, she was so stupid, why did she let that happen?

"Mei!" Cho shot up then, watching Kaori stiffly walk away. She shot a sharp glance at Rai, but didn't bother with scolding him in that moment -- instead, Cho hastily said, "I need to go talk to her," and quickly left the table herself, practically running after Kaori in her worry. The others would understand, she hoped, at least. "Mei, wait!"

Kaori had made it halfway across the courtyard before Cho caught up to her. "Mei, what happened back there? Are you okay?" Cho took Kaori's shoulder, and Kaori stopped. Her eyes were glistening with tears. She turned to Cho and spoke shakily again, "I didn't mean to do that, I-I don't know what happened -- Naito was just trying to be nice and that other boy just made him feel bad for it, a-and it made me angry and I tried to hold it back but -- " She sniffled. "Oh my God, he must hate me, that boy must hate me. I was just trying to defend Naito, he was trying his best -- " She wiped her eyes. This was so unlike her. Usually, these feelings were compressed back into her heart like she was used to doing, but she seemed to have connected to the situation in a way that evoked emotion from her.

"Kaori." Cho had placed both of her hands on Kaori's shoulders, and Kaori looked up at Cho with a reddened face and a tear streaming down her cheek. The use of her first name took her by surprise. Cho's expression was serious, but soft. "Rai shouldn't have said that, he was in the wrong. He can say stupid things sometimes .. " Memories of other occasions like that came to her. "Th-they don't even know me though! They probably think I'm awful, they -- " Kaori's ranting was interrupted by Cho's grip on her shoulders tightening.

"Kaori, my friends aren't like that." Her voice, instead of being serious, was now calmer, but desperate, trying to help Kaori calm down. "I promise, they don't hate you. They don't just suddenly hate people that way, they aren't like the really mean popular kids you always hear about. I promise." Kaori's sniffling slowed and softened, blinking at Cho with a very conflicted, unsure expression on her face. "You need to trust me, okay?" Kaori blinked, sniffing again. Her heart, beating at a thousand miles per hour, began to calm down with the comforting words of Cho. Kaori had followed Cho into a couple of strange situations, but it was not a lie that Kaori trusted Cho more than most people. Wiping away the threatening tears, her face started to fade slowly away from the red it was becoming. " .. I .. " Kaori glanced hesitantly back to the group in the distance. " .. Are .. you sure? .. "

Cho, realizing her words had worked in cooling Kaori down, took a deep breath, smiling with relief at Kaori. "Yeah, of course I'm sure. I know them better than anybody." Cho pulled Kaori into a gentle hug, which Kaori slowly returned after a second. "You take some time to collect yourself, okay? I'll go back and explain to everybody what's happening." Kaori, feeling a bit silly now at such a dramatic reaction to everything, sniffed once more and nodded slowly. Cho was good with words, so Kaori wouldn't have to worry about that. Cho let herself release Kaori and started back towards the table with her friends. Their understanding natures wasn't a lie to make Kaori feel better -- all of her close friends were genuinely good people. They just needed to be briefed about certain things before they could start to work on them.

Cho sat back down in her spot, and began to speak to everybody, raising her voice so all at the table could hear, "She's fine. She just took the teasing the wrong way and got angry." She glanced to Raiden, saying, "And she apologizes for raising her voice to you -- she just didn't like how Naito has been teased." Her voice was meaningful as she said this to Rai, hoping, and fairly sure, that he understoof. She turned back to the rest of the group spoke to everybody again as she said, "Kaori is a very sensitive person to things like teasing, even if it's just playful, so we should probably tone it down on the jokes that might seem rude to strangers. She takes some patience and time to adjust to, but I swear she's a super caring girl when you get to know her more .. she's just met us, so lets include her and just be nice to each other, okay?" The way that Cho spoke concluded that nobody should ask questions as to why Kaori was that way -- they didn't need to hear that from Cho.

As Cho briefed the rest of the group, Kaori let her face grow back to its normal color and wiped away the remainder of her tears. She had to be brave again. Cho was taking the time to be so inclusive and sweet to Kaori, she couldn't just take something like that for granted. A minute or so passed of Kaori just getting herself back in order, trying to return to her placid, passive state again, fixing her hair and rubbing her eyes. The sniffling ceased finally, and she turned back around slowly, starting a very cautious walk back to the table she'd just had a scene at. Even if it was short, it was a scary walk, but she had to trust Cho with this.

Once she was approaching the table, she made her way back to her spot between Cho and Naito and sat down slowly, glancing at everybody with a caution. She blinked and looked down at the table's surface. " .. " A pause happened before she said quietly, " .. Sorry for .. that." Her tone was obviously asking for forgiveness, and Cho placed a gentle hand on her arm, glancing around at everybody and expecting their forgiveness to come pouring out of all of them. They were such nice people, she had a feeling they would take it kindly now that it was explained to them.

 

R a i d e n
Y u u .


There was little almost no laughter distributed throughout the group when Rai opened his big mouth. There was a bit of heaviness that started to linger around his head, the feeling brought his once folded arms, to unfold, stiffening slowly down towards the table top, his expression to molded into something a bit on the embarrassed side when he noticed Naito not responding like he usually would. Naito, he was suppose to be the guy who would scold Rai whenever he was out of line, he was suppose to tell him to shut up whenever Rai decided to be funny, but just came out stupid. He, he was suppose to say something, but he said nothing, all he did was look at the fool who created such an awkward situation with a look that was sharp enough to cut diamond, and stern enough to never faze. Silent disapproval, was all Rai was given, and in receiving it a soft voice cut through the quiet, causing him to look over to the frail girl who sat uncomfortably next to Naito, and who was also giving a look that solidified that he really did screw up.

"You need to stop being so mean to him...H-he was just being nice -- I -- I'm sorry -- "

If words were able to cut, hers-- hers would penetrate right into his soul. It was almost painful to see her react so defensive, not only that, but displaying how she really felt towards the situation, and she did feel hurt. Rai couldn't help but present distress mixed in with shock. His eyes scanned the table, Nanami shook her head in disappointment, Mariko averted her eyes, as well as Aki, Yuki watched as Kaori walked away from the table, Cho was one step of ahead of everyone else, making the first move to go after the girl who just exploded, and Naito, he didn't dare look at Rai, especially when Rai needed some sort of reassurance that he didn't screw up as bad as he thought he did-- but, nobody wanted, nor did give him that false reassurance.

He exhaled out, a long tired breath of coming to terms, "It was a joke.. I-- I didn't mean to make it seem like..."

"Like what?"

Rai began to slump down, arching his back, folding his arms in front of him, resting his chin down on them. "I don't know... I just didn't mean it..." There was silence between everyone, no one felt like eating, talking, moving, or looking at anyone. It felt as if everyone said the joke, as if everyone made the mistake towards the new girl, when in reality it was Rai who did it, it was the idiot, the fool, the inconsiderate asshole who did it. "She must hate me." Rai added, his tone small, filled with defeat.

He closed his eyes, letting the silence manifest him in an anxious way, for no one felt like talking after his share in few words. Throughout his life, there has never been a time where he wanted to take something back. He never wanted to take back the fight he had with one kid at his neighborhood park who tried to steal his bike one day after school. He never wanted to take back the time he sat out for an entire game, just some other guy on the team could get his shot of playing in the last game of the season, and get that winning catch. He never wanted to regret anything, because the baggage was just to much for him to carry. But, this very situation was heavy on his shoulders, he wanted to take it back, all of it. All the times he made her flustered in the couple of minutes he has been with her, the time he made the wrong joke at the wrong time, the time where his ray of sunshine was just to overbearing for her to comprehend. He wanted to take it all back-- he wanted to say sorry.

"She's fine. She just took the teasing the wrong way and got angry." As the silence at the table was put at a end, his eyes shot open, catching Cho as she sat back in her seat, meeting her gaze before she continued with the update on Kaori. "And she apologizes for raising her voice to you -- she just didn't like how Naito has been teased." He wanted to to explain himself, but he knew that there would be no good in bursting out, interrupting Cho who knew more about Kaori than Rai ever did, and probably ever will. He kept his mouth shout, and just nodded his head, feeling the guilt add more weight that was already hanging on his shoulders when it was Kaori who felt the need to apologize-- that stabbed directly into his ego.

"Kaori is a very sensitive person to things like teasing, even if it's just playful, so we should probably tone it down on the jokes that might seem rude to strangers. She takes some patience and time to adjust to, but I swear she's a super caring girl when you get to know her more .. she's just met us, so lets include her and just be nice to each other, okay?"

"You're right... I should've known, but... I'm so stupid--"

"You are stupid. A fool, an idiot for making Kaori stand up for Naito in a situation that wasn't even called for." Rai held his tongue, accepting the scolding he was going to get.
"But, you shouldn't be telling us how stupid you are, because, we already know and we all know that that is just how you are sometimes. Mei-chan, she doesn't know. Like Cho said, let her warm up to us, and especially you, before you start saying stupid things again."

A hush lingered back around the table, as Kaori made her way back into the scene. Everyone watched her patiently, as she took her time for a brief composure. " .. Sorry for .. that."

"Mei-chan don't say sorry... You did nothing wrong! I'm sorry that you got so upset!" It didn't take long for someone to burst out into an apology, but the surprise was that Mariko was the first one to do so among everyone else.

"Y-Yeah! I'm sorry!"

"Geez, I guess everyone is apologizing," Nanami couldn't help but laugh at the two of them, for being so short, they did have a big heart, and a big sense of empathy for any situation. "They are right though. Sorry Mei-chan. I hope there are no hard feelings."

Naito looked at Kaori, giving a small, gentle smile as her eyes were still stuck on the tables surface, "I'm sorry, Mei-chan. Thank you, for being so kind to me." Although, there was no reason for him to say sorry to the girl who has showed such gratitude and appreciation towards him, he felt like it was only right to apologize. Yuki only nodded in his own silent respects, after Naito gave his own feature, then, it was on to the very reason everyone felt the strong sense of righteousness to apologize on Kaori's upsetting experience. Everyone's gazes shifted towards the hunched over giant on the table who stiffened up at the very feeling.

Rai couldn't look at Kaori at first. His heart was fluttering at the speed of sound. His breathing was a bit heavy, but he tried his best not to show that he was panting through this uncomfortable experience of almost everyone's eyes on him. He knew he couldn't talk his way out of this, and the very thought of wanting to escape the situation made him feel like the absolute worse for trying so hard to find a way, find an excuse just for everyone to stop staring at him. But, his sense of right, is what made him inhale deeply, straighten his back, resting his arms in his lap and bowing his head, "I'm really sorry, Kaori-- I mean, Mei-chan... I didn't mean to upset you, and I didn't mean--" he paused, lifting his head up from his apologetic bow, catching the doe-like eyes that were colored the deepest brown eyes that were Kaori's, "--I didn't mean to come off as a jerk... I just hope you don't hate me because of my bad jokes." to break the ice, he cracked a smile, the smile played shyly on his lips for he didn't know if it was appropriate or not, but, he just didn't want to look like a complete bad guy without trying to make himself look harmless.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • Love
Reactions: Gore

kaori
mei.


Despite the supportive pep talk given by Ito, Kaori's expectations for forgiveness were still extraordinarily low. The girl had an extremely difficult time trusting people, especially people she'd literally just met. Everybody was unpredictable until you learned about what was under the hood -- secrets, personalities, everything. As hope could go miles without breaking, pessimism could go the same, but it instead managed to also leave ugly disrepair in its victim in its wake. Years of this had left a very strong set of marks on Kaori, ones that even then were capable of being glimpsed at. With her hands clutching at the fabric of her sweatpants on her lap, Kaori kept her eyes down in a submission that was all her own, fearing the sharp tones of the unforgiving.

But, evidently, those tones would never arrive. Instead, Kaori was shocked to hear the soft, childlike voice of Mariko burst out in a desperately .. apologetic tone of voice. "Mei-chan, don't say sorry .. you did nothing wrong! I'm sorry that you got so upset!"

In that moment, a wave of surprise plummeted to the ground out of nowhere and rushed over her. Her eyebrows furrowed in bewilderment as her eyes suddenly flickered up off of the table, watching the beautiful girl with wide eyes. Before Kaori could even gather herself, another youthful voice broke in, the voice of Daisuke, "Y-yeah! I'm sorry!" Kaori's gaze was pulled to the short boy, thoughts starting to bubble up in her mind. Why on earth were they apologizing? Kaori was the one who'd done something rude, not them. Kaori's lips had parted, but no words spilled out, as her mind couldn't conjure any up to verbalize.

Nanami broke in with a chuckle, observing the sudden apologies of everybody, but continued on with them, asking for her forgiveness and hoping there weren't any hard feelings. It felt as though Kaori's heart was swelling up in her chest, overwhelmed by this kindness that she was being given. Her eyes darted back down to the table, with her face practically beginning to glow red. "I-I -- " Only a stammered sound came out, nothing after. The familiar voice of Naito pulled her eyes back up, and there, she saw his smile. Only then, she saw the kindness in his eyes and this lovely, soft expression on his face as he thanked her for her kindness, and apologized as well.

For what reason he was apologizing, she didn't know. He was the victim of what had happened. She wanted to put her hand on his shoulder and shake him a bit, tell him it wasn't his fault, but she resisted, only responding with a blink and a swallow in her confusion. Her eyes drifted up and around, to land on the expression of Yuki, the mysterious one. She hadn't expected anything from him (nor from anyone, but at this point, it seemed that she was wrong on that), but he did nod to her, with an emotion in his eyes that Kaori registered very quickly as apology and kindness as well. She'd only ever had kindness and acceptance, and forgiveness like this showered on her from Cho, but now here she was, having it poured on her by the bucket loads. This had never happened to her before, never .. her heart felt like bursting in her rib cage.

But then, among everything, everybody fell silent -- and all of the attention was suddenly moved, to somebody else. Kaori's eyes had returned to the hands on her lap, but the sudden quiet made them drift up hesitantly, to the point of interest at that moment -- to Yuu. He didn't look at all how she'd expected him to look. Instead of holding a look of annoyance, or even rage, he looked .. he looked ashamed. He looked absolutely ashamed, and his eyes avoided hers. Even with the fact that she was a nobody, and that he could easily crush her under his gaze, he would not look at her, with an aura of guilt resting heavily around him.

Kaori almost teared up again.

After a moment, he took a deep breath, and he straightened himself. His head bowed in a formal way of apology, and he began to speak, with the eyes of everybody solely on him, "I'm really sorry, Kaori- I mean, Mei-chan... I didn't mean to upset you, and I didn't mean -- " He paused, his head reclining up out of its bow and his eyes abruptly meeting her own. They were honest. " -- I didn't mean to come off as a jerk .. I just hope you don't hate me because of my bad jokes." And then, in what felt like something of his own bright style, he allowed a small, apologetic smile touch his lips. It was nothing showing amusement, nor was it an inappropriate or intrusive action -- it complimented his way of speaking, and it finished his apology with a touch of grace and truth.

Cho, sitting next to Kaori, was smiling widely like a proud mother hen of a flock of chicks. Her expectations of the group never failed, and she had a feeling Raiden would make it up with his way of words. He was such a sweet boy, at heart. His guilt was tangible when she returned -- as expected. He hated hurting people without the intention of it, and she knew it well. And with the very shocked look on Kaori's face, Cho knew that everything that came to pass there was nothing that she'd been expecting to receive. It made her swell with pride at her friends.

Kaori was stuck in silence. She had to take a moment to regain feeling in her hands. Her knuckles were as white as a ghost, but her grip relaxed as she began to regain her composure and realize what had just happened. So much compassion in one sitting took a little longer than just a few seconds to understand, especially when it came to somebody who saw it as so foreign. But it was certainly not unappreciated -- no, in fact, it was the biggest relief in the world, in the galaxy, that Kaori hadn't made enemies out of these people, and instead had found a group of teenagers who challenged how she saw people in her school, and in her life. But in a good way, of course.

Coming back to reality, Kaori's eyes darted from person to person. Her head bowed for a second, mostly out of respect towards the group, before it rose again. The small girl took a few seconds to find her voice, and stammered at first when she tried to speak, " .. Y .. you, I - th-this -- " Her hands rose, gesturing randomly towards herself and everybody at the table. "I'm .. " Kaori rested her eyes on Raiden Yuu again, feeling that her words should be mostly focused on him. Her cheeks were still red, but her face and stature began to relax, little by little. Her tired eyes were dimly lit, but held a trace of a light that you could see if you looked deep into her gaze, " .. I .. I'm endlessly grateful for your kindness." She looked at everybody. " .. A-all of you." Her hands crossed over her chest in a habitual motion. "I overreacted and I'm sorry. I just .. " Her stare returned to Rai, a little shier now than before.

" .. I'm .. hard to deal with. I hope you can understand that, and not come to hate me for it."

In her last part of her sentence, she did not stammer. The unbridled truth came out without restraint of any kind. Kaori was hard to deal with. It wasn't just her being self-deprecating. It had taken Cho literal months, over a year to start to understand why Kaori was the way that she was. Cho knew her better than a lot of people did, knew why her flaws were so prevalent and constant. It would take these people more than just forgiving her for one mistake to understand why Kaori Mei was Kaori Mei.

With that last statement, the girl silenced, hoping that her message had gotten across. Still, despite the slight discouragement with her words, she still held an aura of unrelenting gratitude, feeling the relief of forgiveness fill the worried cracks in her thoughts. She began to calm down, feeling that her words had filled everything that had to be said. Her eyes lingered on Yuu's for a moment, before they drifted down onto the rice balls on the table space in front of her.
 

R a i d e n
Y u u .


The trees changed their colors, from reds, yellow, oranges and browns. The air was getting colder, the days were getting shorter, and the summer uniform was no longer fit to survive this change in season. Academics were inching closer to exams, and club activities were getting ready to call it an end for the weather was no longer permitting students to be out in this biting wind that would fly through, covering the ground with colorful, decaying leaves. As everyone made the merge into a new swing of things, there seemed to be a different color that shaded the group of friends that accepted a new soul into their group. It felt complete, not because their usual table was finally completely filled with people, but, a new face made everyone excited, almost active once more. Plans were being made, weekends were being filled, and future study dates were going to be taken in affect, all because of Kaori Mei's addition.

A few days have passed since Kaori's introduction, and frankly she blended in almost too smoothly in with everyone else. Like Yuki, she was a wallflower of the sort, but a different species. There was never a time when Raiden wasn't watching her, glancing in her direction, or attempting to make some sort of conversation, maybe even small talk with the girl who was silent. In observations, Kaori was quiet, reserved. It seemed as if she wasn't a big fan of contributing to group discussions, unless spoken to one on one-- even so, she still didn't have much to say, causing the conversation to fade to black. She attended lunch with everyone, usually arriving along with Cho, occasionally she would tag along with Cho when there was passing periods and the group would meet just to hear one another complain about whatever. But, when the days came to a close, there was usually a final meeting just to say their farewells, and it was the time when Kaori Mei was never there, parting ways before anyone had a chance to say or even invite her to a after school get together that was frequently happening every other day. Cho would give the excuse that maybe she was busy, that she maybe wasn't feeling good, or she was tired and wanted to go home and rest. Even so, everyday, Raiden took note of these appearances, and disappearances, causing his curiosity to run wild on: Where is Kaori? Why did she leave so fast? What is she doing?

He wanted to reach her, even though her hand was never held out towards him, he wanted to steal her attention, even if she always averted eyes first-- the girl who was silent, he wanted to pull her out of the daze she always was in. She would look off to the distance, out the window, watching as nature took its course so freely-- he wondered if she wanted to be free, for the way she gazed, there was some sort of longing in her eyes. It was a thought that has been lingering in circles-- but it was quick to be shut down at the very thought of wondering what she was thinking about all the time. The feeling didn't sit right in his stomach, his constant attention on her made him feel a bit uneasy. Why should someone that Raiden just made acquaintance with, take up all of his interest? Especially someone who was the absolute opposite of him? The differences were blatantly obvious, that he could even tell during their first meeting it made her a bit overwhelmed, maybe even intimidated-- feelings that he did not want her to feel. But in his own situation, he thought she was interesting. The way she looked, was different than everyone else. Small, dainty, fragile, plain. Her hair was always natural, and was never done up to impress anyone, her face was make-up free, never did she wear any beauty aesthetics to impress. Compared to Mariko, Nanami, and occasionally Cho, she was just an average girl, with average looks, that didn't try to stand out.

Kaori was different, and Raiden couldn't stop figuring out why.

In present time, it was the end of the school day, the long hall from the entrance of the school to the gate was already filled with mingling teenagers with their fall coats, and loose scarves, in groups of two, three or four, making their way to whatever destination was planned on that Friday mid-afternoon. The second bell rang a few seconds after the first, that was the alarm. Rai already had his wind-jacket on, his bag in his hands, and his signature red scar loosely around his neck, with one foot out the door he paused, "Cya' Naito!" Taking the big sprint forward to his destination, the front entrance, to grab his shoes, Nanami and Mariko were already on their way towards his and Naito's classroom. "Nami! Mari! Bye bye!" He yelled as he slipped in between the two girls, reaching out his hand to the railing of the third floor staircase.

"U-um?"

"W-wait! Rai?!"

He didn't waste any time, his legs were like lighting, quick, fast, and reaching as far as he could go without knocking anyone over, bumping into them with his full body force. Cho was on the first level, making her way to the teacher's lounge to hand off some collected notebooks that came from her class that day. Rai, being who he was, big and clumsy, almost bumped shoulders with her potentially causing her to fall forward and spill everything-- school shoes give no justice, especially to an athlete-- it was lucky that he even made it this far without a teach pulling him aside, scolding him, and making his goal for today put on idle until tomorrow, where he would have to do everything over again; just thinking about it made him feel more out of breath than he already was. Cho swung around, feeling the wind of the speedy Rai go past her, causing her heart to plummet to her stomach at the thought of the possible terrifying collision.

"Geez! Watch where you're going-"

"I'm sorry! I'll make it up to you!" He blurted out as he gathered his balance as well as he could. There was no time to listen to Cho as he could already feel the scolding bubble up, picking his pace back up again, he continued flying down the last stairwell, reaching the main floor where students were leaving, talking, and grabbing their shoes.

"H-Hey! Don't apologize and keep running! No running in the halls anyway..." She knew there was no use of keeping up her scolding, it wasn't going to stop him to begin with, it didn't in the end, he was already towards the entrance by now. She sighed, and kept her trek to the lounge, silently hoping that whatever he was in a hurry for, he doesn't get in trouble for acting like the idiot he usually is.

Making it to his locker, that was inconveniently on the lowest locker. He dropped down into a crouch, pulling the door open, grabbing his shoes, making the big switch, then springing back up where he searched frantically through the crowd to find his ordinary, silent girl that he did all this for.

"Not there.. Not there.. Not there.." in short mumbling breathes, he quietly spoke to himself as he walked around the bay to find the small girl who could still be getting her shoes, coming to get her shoes, or leaving to go, or worse, she was already out of the school grounds. The very last thought of it all was almost defeating, but it pushed his annoying determination even more to search. He went through crowds, looking everyone he crossed paths with straight in the eye, looking for the eyes that always gazed off somewhere else.

His own searching wasn't doing him justice, he needed to find someone who knew Kaori Mei, who knew when she left, or even if she left. Cho and Kaori were from the same class, Raiden and Naito always went in there once before to grab Cho for lunch, end of the school day, or whatever it may be so, he should know what girls were in both of Cho and Kaori's class, right? Maybe. How frustrating.

Exhaling deeply, still trying to catch his breath, he looked towards the entrance, only to see a small girl, smaller than any girl he has ever seen wearing a sweatshirt. By the silhouette, his heart began to flutter, there she was, by herself. Maneuvering through students who were either barely his height, or completely under him, he reached out, touching the girl that he has been looking for ever since the second bell rang. "Kaori-chan?" He let his loose grip on her shoulder go as he used his body to cut her path. "There you are, geez..." It was her, and the very thought of her in front of him made him want to smile, and laugh at the stupid thing he just did. He was acting so uncool right now, smiling because he found a girl that barely ever spoke to him. "I've been looking for you since school ended, I was so afraid that you left... I almost knocked Cho flat on her face because I was running so fast! It was hilarious but super scary at the same time! My heart is beating so fast right now it is hard to breathe!" He rambled, and rambled, for no reason, going on about something that had no purpose to what he originally planned to say to her. Off track, Rai forced a cough out that had no significance, but, just for him to break the silence after saying things that somehow made him feel embarrassed after. "U-Um, Kaori-chan... I was wondering if you wanted to Karaoke tomorrow?"

It is amazing how by using 'I' could affect a sentence that was simply meant for a friendly gesture. It was almost more amazing to see how 'I' completely changed the concept of a sentence. The realization came, but not fast enough. Rai felt his cheeks burn into hell fire. His eyes grew wide, and his body tense. He became frantic, "W-Wait! That isn't what I meant! Not I! I mean.. I will be going too but.. Everyone.. Everyone! Everyone wants to know if you will go to Karaoke tomorrow--" he felt way to in deep, and knowing how she might react, she might hate him again for being way to straight forward for his own good. Before things could possibly get worse, he bent his upper half into a sudden bow, out of instinct, "I'm sorry!"
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • Love
Reactions: Gore

kaori
mei.



That very first day, things changed. They changed at such a rapid pace that Kaori could barely keep up.

Meeting Cho's friends was an enormous shift in her daily routine. Suddenly, Cho was coaxing her back into coming along at lunch, and every day, she would sit at the table and watch everybody eat and laugh and talk. Most times, she rarely said much of anything herself, either napping the minutes away or just watching everybody do their own little things. Occasionally, somebody would mention her and attempt to pull her into their conversation, but she would rarely offer up much more than a sentence or two and a few quiet gestures. This whole ordeal -- being in a friend group -- had never happened to her before. Her days of school in the past were spent alone, sometimes with Cho and maybe some other lonely straggler on the school grounds, but never had she been suddenly considered a member of any group as large as Cho's. Nanami, Mariko, Daisuke, Cho, and Raiden often carried the banter and the conversation in the group; Naito would throw in his own sarcasm and small comments, and often, Yuki was as quiet as Kaori was. Even then, Yuki still seemed as though he could carry conversation, whilst Kaori could barely respond to a question without leaving a silence in her wake.

In a way, Kaori often felt very distant from everything when she was a part of that small group. The whole concept of her being wanted anywhere just didn't seem real, and she had begun to daydream much more than she typically did. Her attention and her mind would disconnect from her body, and she'd be lost in a trance-like state until somebody managed to pull her back into reality. Kaori maintained a relative distance between herself and the talkative group, despite Cho's efforts to reel her further in; she rarely ever attended their hang-outs outside of school, and despite tagging along during the early and middle school hours, she didn't dare hang around after the final bell rang. When that bell sounded, it signaled her freedom from the constrictions of what felt like a prison to her. When she got home, nothing was allowed to be public to anybody at her school. Her day would be over, and she'd take her sweet alone time to recharge her social batteries and relax.

Bad days were especially careful for Kaori. On a bad day, as soon as she got home, her next move would be determined by just how terrible she felt. Sometimes, she'd sit in her room, stagnant, and do nothing but stare at a wall until the sun set and her room became too dark to see in -- and honestly, that was the best case scenario. Other times, she'd break down for a reason only explained by her cursed mental illness, hyperventilating and silently crying out whatever unexplained emotions coursed through her. And, on the really bad days, she'd fall from however long she'd gone without doing it and she'd self harm. Even with the new addition of acquaintances, these things refused to change. It was clear that Kaori's personal life was as personal as it could get. Not even Cho knew the extent of what she suffered with -- and maybe it was for the best.

In the group, Kaori's obliviousness to Raiden would sometimes dissolve, and she'd notice a strange focus that he seemed to have on her. She didn't know what on earth for, and it would make her curious -- and cautious. She always interpreted attention on herself as negative, as she seemed to interpret everything else as negative too, so she would often try to brush off the out-of-place attention. The distance between herself and this group did not make exceptions for any of the people she accompanied. It was a comfortable, yet at the same time uncomfortable distance for Kaori. She felt safe when she put a boundary between herself and others, but she also felt a strong disconnect. She knew that if you kept a thick enough shield around yourself, you could eventually fade away into the background. However, as time passed, and as Kaori listened to the flowing, quirky banter and felt the bonds between these friends, something deep inside of her fluttered. Maybe it was a long, lost craving for what they had, or a curiosity for a feeling that she'd rarely had the chance to know. Though there was plenty of road to travel before Kaori could ever begin to warm up, it seemed as though her disconnecting started to lessen, and she felt that she was snuggled into a slot created just for her at that lunch table. It was a very subtle, vague feeling at first, but the days made it more and more recognizable as she observed further into the workings of Cho's group and allowed herself to at least find a comfortable spot, if she was going to keep being persistently dragged along.

With this feeling, she recognized more and more the auras of each person that she was present with, and how they complimented one another. The best way she could describe it was using her senses rather than simply describing personality traits. Nanami was the tangerine, tangy and sweet with that edge of citrus that gave the taste more bounce. She was blunt, honest most of the time, and she kept a swagger all her own. Kaori found herself comparing Daisuke to a small blow-horn, for some reason -- small, comparatively, but still giving bursts of energy and volume every so often, when something that he was passionate about came along (this more often than not included Mariko). Mariko was absolutely the delicate, soft, sweet-smelling flower of the group; her voice, her appearance, and everything about her made her easily adorable, and she held a shy, sweet atmosphere to her. Like a subtle lavender perfume, in a way -- not too much, not too little, and complimentary to everyone she was with. She knew Cho already, and it became apparent that she was often comparable to a mother bear with her cubs when she was around her friends. Proud and motherly, but still excitable and cheerful, as Kaori had seen her much before. Naito was a stream of chilly river water, icy and shocking when you first stepped in, but cool and relaxing once you got used to him. His sarcasm and authoritative way of going about things was something that set him apart, and Kaori personally enjoyed it. Yuki .. he was a strange one. He managed to remain rather elusive, but Kaori eventually managed to compare him to a thick fog. It felt as though it held many unknown things, but in a strange way, it was relaxing and tranquil. Despite his lack of contribution to most conversations, it comforted her to know that she wasn't the only more reclusive person in the group. He wasn't nearly as bad as her, but it was enough to provide some reassurance.

And then there was Raiden. Cho had once described him as being a positive, popular guy -- and with the attention she'd seen him receive, she understood why. He was a personal sun, spreading rays of warmth and positivity onto anybody that spoke to him. He always had good intentions, she discovered, but he would occasionally screw up in a way that might hurt his attempts to be nice. After all, an abundance of a good thing could become a bad one sometimes. But, regardless, it was obvious that he was a sociable, likable person. The odd moments of attention that the boy would focus onto Kaori came off as strange to the small girl, and .. somewhat embarrassing. But the fact that he was always trying to do good made her respect him a little more, and with how sweet he'd been to her in the beginning, she could feel herself getting a little more adjusted to his opposite way of things.

All in all, Kaori was experiencing something completely, utterly new -- and she honestly had no idea how to go about it. The path of learning how to befriend people was still rocky and uneven under her feet, leaving her to be the most closed-in socially of the group. It was a very, very new and unnatural mix of feelings that were coming to pass, as she was both discomforted and slowly becoming more comfortable somehow. In the end, there was no way that opening Kaori Mei up would be easy. She had a long way to go.

And it seemed that this day would be the beginning of a new chapter in her story.

The school day had ended. The bell had rung through the once empty halls of the school, only for the corridors to quickly fill with a rush of escaping students. The sound was freeing, as if everybody were small birds being released from an enormous cage. As always, Kaori kept to herself and waited for the crowd pushing through the door to break up. When the bell rang, a pack of students would always make a rush at the door and make a mad dash outside, causing a blockage in the doorway -- and Kaori wasn't determined enough to leave right away to face trampling teenagers. The students dispersed eventually, and Kaori rubbed one of her eyes as she started towards the door, feeling a drowsiness as she anticipated going home. She was wearing an off-white sweater, with the baggy right sleeve bunched up her slender arm to her elbow, and the other swallowing up her left arm and hand. Her sweatpants were equally as baggy, as per usual, colored a soft gray and bunched at the ankles. She blinked the tiredness out of her eyes and kept her gaze on her path. She'd have to retrieve her shoes before she left -- the school shoes were never to be taken outside of the grounds.

Her path was as familiar as ever. She dodged the scrambling forms of other kids, slipping her way sneakily through the crowds. Being small had its benefits, but the cons often outweighed the pros by a landslide. Despite this, she always found a way through. She did not try to locate Cho or any of the group, but that was the normal way of things. She'd go home straight away, and would only be seen the next day. The lockers near the entrance of the school were crowded, but many students were hastily slipping their outside shoes on and rushing out the door, so the bunches of students cleared up somewhat by the time Kaori had arrived at her locker. As she slipped off her school shoes and unlocked the door of her locker to slip on her casual ones, her eyes flickered aside, towards the glass doors where late afternoon sunlight was streaming through. It was an inviting sight, and for the first time that day, she felt a lapping wave of content in her heart. She planned to crash basically as soon as she got home. Her homework was sparse and she had already gotten the majority of it done in school, so she would be safe to sleep the night away.

A calm washed over her. She pushed her focus back onto putting on her shoes, eventually tying the worn sneakers tight and standing to lock up for the day. She slung her schoolbag on one of her delicate shoulders with a small noise of exertion at the weight, and sighed, relishing the moment of serenity that she achieved from leaving the school grounds. But, before she could push through the glass doors of the entrance, a feeling on her shoulder made her immediately tense and freeze in her spot.

It was a hand.

Feeling a shock of nervousness, she was about to turn to face the person who'd decided to touch her -- but before she could become fully afraid, a warm, relieved voice said, "Kaori-chan?" It was only when she heard the voice that she realized who it was that had touched her; only one person regularly used her first name. Before she even looked, she knew that it was Raiden. The tall boy stepped in front of her, and upon confirmation of it being him, she relaxed much more than she had been before. A huff of air left her lungs in a tiny sense of relief. Though it was someone she recognized, she was still stuck in a state of surprise, and hesitance. Raiden had never found her after school before -- in fact, none of the group had. Maybe he had something important to ask about? That made her even more nervous, in all honesty.

Kaori was silent as Raiden abruptly launched into a ramble, saying things like he was afraid she'd left and how out of breath he was. Did he really sprint through the school to find her? Looking now, the boy did seem a bit exhausted, breathing heavily with a slight shade pink to his face. His tone of voice was filled with adrenaline or excitement, she wasn't sure which. Eventually, his ranting ceased, and he fell silent briefly. Kaori said nothing. Both of her hands was now gripping the strap of her book-bag tightly, while she kept a steady, but careful gaze on his face. She had no idea what this was about, and the squirming feeling in her stomach wasn't really helping with that. Raiden recollected himself, and coughed absently to clear the air of any tension he might have caused with his words. Kaori glanced behind him, towards the outside for just a fleeting moment, before looking back up at the tall boy, expecting him to speak again.

And though he did speak, what came out of his mouth was not was she was expecting to hear.

"U-Um, Kaori-chan .. I was wondering if you wanted to go to Karaoke tomorrow?"

It took a few seconds for Kaori to register what he was saying -- and as soon as she realized, she felt her expression become one of growing surprise and abashment. Her cheeks heated up. "Wh-what?" That's all that she could think to say. What was he implying? He couldn't have been implying what she thought he was, could he? Her hand swiftly came up to her cheek and cupped it briefly, feeling the intense warmth, trying to think through his words. No, that's not possibly what he could have meant .. and evidently, it wasn't. He seemed to realize the error in his words, and -- for the first time Kaori had ever seen -- his own cheeks started to warm up. A horror-stricken look crossed his face as he rushed to correct himself, making it out to be an invite to a group activity, and hastily apologizing with a bow.

Jesus Christ .. Her racing thoughts began to settle as the relief began to set in. It had just sounded that way taken out of context, he hadn't actually asked her out on a date like she'd thought. She ran a hand through the back of her hair and closed her eyes, sighing deeply as her face returned to its normal pallor. "It's -- it's fine, don't worry about it, Yuu-kun." Dear God, she'd have no idea how to react if she was asked out by anybody, much less Raiden. Nobody could like her that way. She dropped her arm and gripped her school-bag's strap again, instead considering his offer then.

She'd never gone with the group on an outing before; every time they discussed one, she was usually blending herself into the background. The thought of going out made her depression complain, as she never had the drive to go anywhere besides school and home (and school in itself was a struggle anyways). And she never sang in front of other people .. the thought of it sounded very unappealing overall, at first consideration. But she couldn't just straight-up tell him no, not after the effort he'd gone through to find her to ask. She suddenly found herself in a very awkward position. Her silence became indecisive, and her brow furrowed as she thought. How could she say it? " .. Raiden, I .. " Her hands let go of the backpack and clung together, kneading one another. "I-I don't know. I'm not very social, and .. I don't really like singing .. " Her voice came out much softer and less assertive than she had hoped it would. Now, her eyes were aimed towards the floor instead of up at Rai, feeling discomfort about her unsure state.

 
  • Love
Reactions: 1 person

R a i d e n
Y u u .


She rubbed the back of her head, eyes closed, he noticed she had long dark eyelashes that curled so naturally, they stood out against her pale complexion, that was new. Her cheeks were lightly rose; he wasn't the only one who grew a bit uneasily flustered, that was solace, at least. She sighed. Was she annoyed? No. She was as relieved as he was. It had only been a few weeks, and the lack of intelligence with his words made it seemed as if he was asking a girl he barely knew out on a date. Although, the act was uncommon now-a-days in high school, young lovers with no clue of each other, Raiden knew as much, and made the conclusion that Kaori wasn't the type to do such a thing. Moreover, the idea of it never really wrapped around the whole dating aspect with Kaori and a boy at their school, nor even with himself. The thought of it was sudden, and slightly unnerving to think about. But, question arose, his curiosity couldn't help itself. Would she even say yes if he were to ask her out? Did she even think of him in that way? Did he even think of her in that way? Would they even work out? Does she even know what he is like? Does he even know what she is like? The answer was cutthroat, simple, quick to respond-- no, he didn't know her, he didn't know her age, her phone number, her favorite sport, food, color, or even her shoe size-- but as for her side, he didn't know that too. Did he want to know, either? Maybe later. The assessment was forced to a stop on that comfortable conclusion.

"It's -- it's fine, don't worry about it, Yuu-kun."

Yuu-kun, that was what she called him, his last name, with added on honorifics, because, that is what he added with hers, but, using her first name because he just assumed the familiarity position with a complete stranger. After weeks of being grouped up with her, he finally understood now the flustering aspect of using a first name with someone that never even thought of bring first name basis into the picture. She was modest, polite, formal, she probably cared how others would react if she started out a random conversation with someone by using first name informality. He noticed that the first day they met. Raiden admired her considerate nature for others, it was something he had, but not as delicate nor precise as she.

There was a long recognizable awkward silence that floated between the two. As Kaori changed her body language, Raiden could already tell that she wasn't for the idea. It showed in the way she looked away from him, her gaze else where as it usual was, the way she held the straps of her backpack so tightly, and the way her shoulders looked stiffed in the cover of her sweatshirt. Although, the signs were clear, the question stood: Will she say yes, or no? Raiden was prepared for when she said yes, but with the possible answer that could be no, he wasn't quite sure how he would approach that. He could be persistent, but would that scare her away, pushing her to confirm her rejection of the idea? Or, he could be nonchalant about it, blow it off and say 'maybe next time'? Either approach, the hard part will be going to Cho and explaining to her how he failed at making Kaori come to one of their hangouts, and how he probably said something stupid in the process of it.

Her brows furrowed, and that is when she spoke.

" .. Raiden, I .. "

That was a first. His eyes widened a bit as she began, her body language changed, showing more of the emotion of indecisiveness along with something else . . . Inner-conflict? Was she building herself up to say no? He couldn't quite understand where she was going to take this. But, the use of his first name, he was expecting a rejection.

"I-I don't know. I'm not very social, and .. I don't really like singing .. "

That was unexpected. But, it was better than what he thought. Although, he wasn't mentally prepared with answers for the 'I don't know' category, but he was quick to spit something out in the moment, "T-that's ok! Really, it is! I don't really like singing either." That was a lie. "I'm not really good at it, and Nami-chan always makes fun of me for it." That was true. "But, you really don't have to like singing, or be good at singing to go to a karaoke bar." That was also true; he was doing good, if it wasn't for that small white lie, he would be doing great, but he had to go with it. He pushed out a brief chuckle, before pulling up a honest smile, "Kaori, I'm not going to force you, that is the last thing I want to do.. But, I would really like it if you came with us.." She wouldn't look at him, and he didn't blame her. Guessing by the way she reacted, her voice soft, and passive, she wasn't for it. She admitted she wasn't social, and he knew it, Cho, Naito, Nanami, Mariko, Daisuke, Yuki, they all knew that she wasn't, but it didn't stop them from wanting her to be there with them.

Looking at her, speaking his truth, he switched his gaze over at a girl yelling for her two friends that already left with out her. The conversation was trailing off, but the two left because the one was to fixated on her high school crush who's name was disclosed for obvious reasons between the three. Conversations between students were slowing down, fewer and fewer people were flowing out of the building as the day was slowly moving towards its end. The sun was giving off its late afternoon orange glow, causing the scenery of the school grounds to look different compared to when the sun is at its peak.

A vibration came from his front pants pocket, then the generic ding of a ringtone sounded after with a mechanic voice 'You got mail'. Rai reached into his pocket quickly, retrieving his flip phone that flashed an envelop on the front screen, before flipping the top open to see that it was a text from Nanami.

Nami-chan : Where r u? Every1 is w8ing in Chos classroom.

"Sorry, um.. It is a text from Nami-chan..." He said, sounding disconnected as his thumbs moved fast over the buttons, typing his one worded response before flipping the phone shut in a matter of seconds, returning the hand held device back in its place. Taking a swift breath in, only to hold it for a few seconds before letting it flow out. He was at a lost of words, he didn't know what else to say that didn't sound so... pushy. He let the silence settle once more between the two for another passing moment, before he just couldn't take it anymore.

"Say, Kaori... Do you have a cellphone?" The topic went astray, his mind couldn't help itself due to the long amounts of silence. His hand went for his cellphone that he just had a few moments ago. Pulling it out, his thumb clicked rapidly, going to the 'make a new contact' page, turning the screen towards Kaori's direction, holding out his phone for her to take, his signature grin formed flawlessly on the curl of his lips. "Want to trade numbers? That way... If you did decide to go with us tomorrow, I can text you the information--" pausing breifly he studied at the small girl with her short hair, the ends curling softly around her face, "--even if you didn't, it'll be easier to contact you with other hangout days in the future... or just to talk to each other..." He was asking for her number, just like any friend would do. With Cho, Nanami, Mariko, they were simple to get, not a second thought went into it, but something about asking her, Kaori Mei, made him feel a bit bashful on the subject, causing his thoughts to rush a bit. Asking a question he didn't know the answer too, and continuing on with the possibility of just being able to message her whenever he felt like it, the idea of it made him feel a certain way that made his stomach clench, and his palm that held the strap of his backpack sweaty.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Status
Not open for further replies.