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New Starts; Open
Topic Started: Jun 20 2013, 03:56 PM (221 Views)
Nokani
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This place...Ravencroft. It was a nice place, she wasn't about to lie about that, but something was off about it. Sure, she was often busy with other things, like making sure she was able to keep her head on straight without exploding, but she noticed how rundown everything else besides the school was. All the industrial things, anyway, which was odd to her. Wasn't America still highly industrialized? Was there something more to everything shutting down? She'd heard some rumors, of course, but then again, every town had its fair share of those, so the foreign girl wasn't about to put too much stock into them. She'd just keep them in mind.

Regardless of all that, she sighed as she closed her notebook, closing her eyes. She had stayed a little late at the school, again. She had only been there for a few days now, but for those few days she had always been like this. Staying behind just a little longer because she just...thought better in the school, rather than in the dorms. Not to mention all her other duties too, like in the clubs she was in and the job she had, didn't give her much of an opportunity to do schoolwork outside of the school. She had to say though, while she hadn't been expecting much out of an American school system, she had been surprised. People said Japan had tough education, and while they were right, Ravencroft was right up there, if you asked her.

On par with the difficulty of some Japanese schools. She liked it, really, but at the same time she had to always wonder if she could keep dealing with the pressure. But she hadn't exploded so far, so she was sure she'd be fine, right? Right. "Oh, just stop your worrying," she muttered to herself. It was tough getting used to speaking English too. It was a lot more...nonspecific than Japanese. Words didn't change depending on the situation, they just had multiple meanings, which was difficult getting used to. And it just felt slow in general, too. American words. But she'd get used to it in time, she was sure. At least she was able to understand the language, a fact she had made sure to do before leaving. Opening her eyes again, the girl stood up, grabbing her notebook as she did so.

She figured it was high time to head back to her dorm, anyway, and...wait a moment. She paused as she stared at the clock. It really wasn't that late at all...had she gotten done with her work quicker than she'd thought? According to the clock the classes had only ended, at best, ten minutes ago. That meant a bunch of people were probably roaming the halls. Should she go out there? She liked people, but...just wasn't sure how to deal with them. Almost hesitantly, she beat down her thoughts and headed outside of the classroom, nervous as could be. Already a kid or two had teased her for being the new girl...what if they did that again?
Edited by Nokani, Jun 22 2013, 07:06 PM.
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Cipher
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Another relatively mundane day came to a rather standard close, or at least it did for Rei, who'd spent the majority of his class time simply staring out the window as if longing for the world outside. Of course, it wasn't as though it mattered whether or not the work was done, at least not to him. It was mostly the same: basic concepts, repeated over and over in order to drill those very same concepts into the heads of those around him.

With an apathetic expression, Takeda gathered his things, straightened his coat, adjusted his glasses, and began to leave. Of course, the congestion in the hallways between the fourth floor and the first was always absolutely terrible, despite the students entering and exiting club rooms, or joining groups of friends. The congestion and movement speed was so slow, that by the time Rei finally became impatient enough to check his phone, ten minutes had passed.

Luckily, that time of impatience only came when he was on the first floor, and the crowd had thinned out considerably. Placing a pale hand in one of his uniform's pockets, Rei calmly turned his head to glance out the window, something that had become a habit. Of course, doing so on the first floor simply seemed mundane in comparison to doing so on the fourth, though he could not say why. Perhaps it was just his liking heights that provoked such thoughts?

Regardless, moving his focus from the window back to the area immediately in front of him, Takeda took note of the blonde girl exiting one of the Freshman classrooms and found it to be remotely interesting. Well, given how mundane the day had been so far, anything could've been seen as breaking the cycle of mediocrity that was daily life. So, the boy straightened his uniform once more, and shot off a mostly uncharacteristic, random greeting, simultaneously stepping in line next to her.

"Ah, hello."

Rei's speech was delivered in the standard tone: stoic bordering on apathy, with undertones of both polite and intelligent nature.
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Nokani
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At first, she didn't notice the man, still as lost as she was in the crowd of people. There weren't as many as she had been expecting, of course, but there were still plenty enough to make it daunting. Still, what would her friend back in Japan be saying right then if she gave up? She'd be encouraging her to just start walking. It wasn't as if people staring would hurt, and the odds of someone bullying her for just walking past...well, she reasoned to herself that they were fairly low. Hopefully she didn't encounter anyone that had something against Japanese people though. However, before she could move much further, the man's voice reached her ears, causing her to take notice of him.

He looked...older, an upperclassman at the least, so she gave him a small bow of her head before quickly straightening up upon realizing something. Right...they didn't do that here in America, did they? It was so very...informal. It was definitely going to take some getting used to. "Greetings to you too," she said, unsure what to make of him. His voice seemed so...stoic, but at the same time it seemed polite. And it had a tone of intelligence to it, as well. How interesting. She surveyed him for a moment before glancing back down the hallway that led to the entrance of the school. What did he want? Blair wasn't entirely sure, but...she didn't think he wanted ANYTHING. If he did, he would have made that clear, wouldn't he? Besides that, as she had already noted, he did seem fairly kind.

It wasn't really fair of him, to make her have to initiate the conversation...but then, he had no way of knowing her troubles with trying to understand people and what they were all like. "Is there...something you want?" she questioned, looking back to him, noting for the first time his height. He had at least a foot on her. That was something she was going to have to get used to as well, her short height. "If you were looking for someone, I think you might have the wrong person. My name's Blair Tachibana." she introduced herself, while simultaneously taking a guess as to his purpose.
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Observing the girl's bowing of the head, Rei was quick to write it off as a show of politeness instead of analyzing it as he did with most other things. However, it simply felt a little out of place to him, likely because such shows of politeness were typically a Japanese custom. Regardless, the bluenette adjusted his glasses, and wrote that oddity off as the girl recognizing his nationality, or something of that nature.

Following the girl's initial response, the bluenette let out a faint sigh, one drowned out by the crowd's chatter, and tried to focus on the girl's admittedly rather difficult to hear voice while simultaneously drowning out the aforementioned chatter. Of course, this task was not difficult, due to how often he'd simply ignored people around him in order to read, sleep, or do other things that required silence and full focus.

Following the short girl's introduction, the bluenette was given the piece of information that explained both her primarily Western appearance and the initial bowing of the head. The girl was at the very least part Japanese, though what nationality was the first name? Such things never really interested Rei, so he sighed and made a mental note to look it up upon arriving at home.

Finally responding, Rei moved to adjust his glasses before speaking to the girl. Was there a way to word his reason for speaking to her without seeming entirely impulsive, creepy, or ignorant? After thinking on it for a second or two, the bluenette brushed the fringe covering his right eye away from that area, and gave his response.

"I'm not looking for anyone specific, no. Though, it is a pleasure to meet you, Tachibana-sa---"

The bluenette paused for a moment, only to mentally berate himself for using honorifics. It was an instinct when dealing with people, though it seemed to be even worse when speaking with individuals with any sort of Japanese ancestry. Regardless...

"--Miss Tachibana, my apologies. I am Rei Takeda, and... please, pardon my sudden appearance."
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Nokani
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He wasn't looking for anyone...hm, it could be a lie. After all, he had yet to say why he WAS there, then. Still, Blair was not about to just up and accuse him of that. Who knew how popular this guy was? She didn't need friends of this guy getting on her case just for being a little bit suspicious. Besides, his greeting was kind enough as well, and he seemed sincere when he said it was a pleasure to meet her. So...now what, then?

They had introduced themselves, and...well, she wasn't the most social girl, really. She liked talking to people, but usually she just let others take charge. He had still yet to answer her question of what he was doing here, but...would he really answer if asked again? Probably not, if he hadn't the first time. "It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Rei," she responded, noting his name. Both parts were Japanese, so...was he Japanese, then? Extremely likely, especially with the way he had almost given an honorific to her. Clearly he had not lived in Japan long though...while -san was typically acceptable to use, he barely even knew her, so it was hardly applicable to her. And -sama was out of the question too, if that was what he had been going for, since it showed even MORE respect than -san.

Regardless of whichever he had been going for, she made a note to herself about how interesting it was, at the very least. "And your sudden appearance isn't a problem. Just...well. You still haven't exactly said WHY you suddenly appeared like you did." she pointed out, figuring right then was a good a time as ever to segway into her question. It felt...awkward to bring it up any other time out of the blue, so what better time than when talking about how he had showed up?
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Cipher
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In the few moments following his introduction, Rei remained silent, waiting for a response or reaction from the girl. After all, it wasn't as though he was the most understanding individual, despite what his apparent social skills would have one believe. Therefore, the bluenette simply waited for something interesting to happen, silently cursing how mundane the supposedly interesting girl seemed in that moment.

Then, with the repetition of what more or less amounted to the question of why he'd appeared, Rei adjusted his glasses and let out a faint sigh. It seemed there was no possibility of dancing around the point, but how should he answer? Glancing around, Takeda donned a pensive expression and began to think. Perhaps simply being honest for a change would be good? Such a thing would certainly ward away mediocrity, if only for a moment.. and gauging the reaction would prove interesting as well... So, he began to speak,

"I simply appeared because I am bored, and you seem relatively interesting in comparison to those around you. Pardon me if that sounds odd, but random appearances are... not common for me, so I am out of my element."

The bluenette proceeded to move his hand in a light sweeping gesture to emphasize the first point. Of course, it wasn't that his peers and underclassmen were uninteresting to him all the time, it was simply that they were easy to analyze and boring in comparison to other individuals he'd met. On their own? They were still relatively 'cool'.

Letting out a faint sigh, Takeda adjusted his glasses once more and decided to ask a simply preliminary question, as if making a feeble attempt at understanding the girl better through a combination of questioning and instinctive analysis. The only thing that came to mind, however, was a question from his meeting with Yuki a while back. However, it would do for the time being,

"So, what part of Japan are you from? Or... did your parents immigrate here prior to your birth?"

(OOC: Terrible post, I know.)
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Nokani
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He was bored...and she seemed interesting? Honestly, Blair was not sure which part of her was interesting to him. Perhaps it was her name? That was a little unusual, but...he hadn't known her name before appearing, had he? So that meant there was something else about her that made her an interesting person. But what could that be? The only interesting thing about her was all the pressure she put on herself, for her grades, clubs, and work. But he had no way of knowing about all of THAT unless he knew who she was first, and he clearly hadn't. So something was clearly up here, she just wasn't sure how to point it out without sounding suspicious of him. But then, that was just how she was, wasn't it? A little suspicious and guarded, no matter who she was talking to.

"Hm...I see. So you just thought I was interesting then," Blair reiterated, not to make fun of him or ridicule him, but just to make sure that her information was correct. Regardless, she had to admit it was a fairly good reason to approach someone. It was the natural curiosity that prompted one to investigate someone who seemed interesting, now wasn't it? "Anyway....what part of Japan? That would be Tokyo, in the Shibuya ward," she stated, wondering how he'd react to that. Shibuya was one of the more popular wards of Tokyo, thanks in no small part to the fact that it was one of the most fashionable wards. People wore all sorts of top of the line fashion there, though that wasn't really her style. It was still really...interesting just how the fashions there were though.

Maybe some day she'd go back there and actually try being fashionable, but..for the moment, she was fine just as she was. Besides, clothes didn't matter in the long run, now did they? What was more important were things like school, clubs, and just generally fitting in here. Fashion could come later. "What about you then? Your name's clearly Japanese, so...were you born there too, or do your parents live here?" she asked of him, unable to hide her curiosity. She just had to know, especially since it would make adjusting to this town a lot easier if she had someone she had similarities with.
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Rei began to curse himself in the moments that followed his initial questioning, moments accompanied by silence. Such things were certainly easier than simply avoiding the point altogether or attempting to lie, but giving such a response was still an oddity in his opinion, and served only to increase the awkwardness. The silence was verification, or so he thought.

The bluenette was soon snapped from said thoughts, however, when the girl reiterated his statement. In response, he simply nodded and began to wonder why she hadn't said it as though it was an oddity or something of that nature, when it finally dawned on him. Perhaps she understood? If that was the case, then that made two individuals who did, and as a result, Rei praised the possibility somewhere in the back of his head, before adjusting his glasses and coming back down to earth once more.

To the response of where exactly she'd lived, Takeda simply gave another nod of affirmation. Shibuya was a more commercial ward in comparison to the rest, and so... wouldn't that logically make the cost of living higher? Well, it wasn't as though it mattered, but it was simply interesting to take note of such a thing, at least to him.

Adjusting his coat, the bluenette took in the girl's next question with a bit of a smile, before giving his answer. Of course, no matter how much Rei wanted to avoid discussing Osaka, when speaking with other Japanese people and asking such questions it was simply an inevitability, and as a result of such an inevitability, there was a little less... distaste for such things on his part,

"...Osaka's Kita ward, my mother and I moved here a month or two ago. Personally, I find this place to be... more pleasant than home."

After all, Kita may have been one of the wealthier areas of Osaka, but the class of the area did not really matter, it was what happened in such a place.... and when a typical day was spent bedridden every day for around ten years or so, one learned to have great distaste for such places.

After giving his answer, Rei adjusted his glasses once more, and began to formulate a response for the potential question of what made America so much better in comparison to Japan. A response that did not involve things like "illness" or anything that really soured his opinion of his homeland in comparison to America, despite such things only really being unpleasant experiences that shouldn't have affected his opinion of the country itself.
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Nokani
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...An unusual boy, to say the least. He didn't seem to talk much at all, similar to her, but she doubted it was for the same reasons. She...well, she was just unsure what to do. He was probably just far too reserved. Either way though, there sure was a lot of silence going on between them, and despite her general disdain for speaking with others, it was bugging her a little bit. He had been the one to approach her, and yet look what they were talking about. Mundane things such as where they had come from and their names.

And she STILL did not know just what it was about her that was so intriguing. She was ordinary, unless he had a sixth sense for telling when someone was completely stressed out. But that wasn't possible, she hid THAT part of herself rather well, if she did say so herself. If she had her way, no one would ever see that side of her, so how could he have? It was just so very..troubling, was a word for it. She held in a sigh and instead nodded her head as he explained where he had come from. She wasn't familiar with the ward, of course, but she knew of Osaka. How could she not?

It was one of the bigger cities in Japan, right up there with Tokyo and Kyoto. "Osaka huh...? Never been there, nor do I know of the Kita ward, but it can't have been all that bad," Blair stated, watching as people seemed to be vanishing. Not literally, of course, but time was going by as they had their conversation, and more were leaving by the minute. She wasn't about to ask why he preferred America, that wasn't her place. There were plenty of reasons WHY he'd prefer America over home, especially if his situation was similar to hers. If his parents were back in Japan. Abusive parents, for one thing. That came up right away.

If his parents were here, however...well, there were still plenty of reasons. A promotion necessitating a move, ill health prompting a change in location in hopes of recovery, lowered income. The latter was, of course, unlikely, since if that was the case, they probably would have moved to somewhere else in Japan, not to America. But still, any number of reasons. "I think...I like it back in Japan more. It's...well. Complicated. But nicer," Blair had paused to say it was stressful back home, because it wasn't. Shaking her head, a small smile was on her face briefly as she thought of Miyuki and how she'd be disappointed to hear Blair wasn't adjusting well, that she wanted to go home so quickly, then that smile was gone and she looked towards him. "Still, I'm probably just saying that because I haven't gotten used to America yet. What is it like here? How different is it?"
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With the girl's response about how things couldn't have been all bad, Rei simply nodded his head. Of course, even the most terrible homes, the most terrible of situations or places, there were always a few fond memories. Of course, the notion of such things simply brought a bit of an upward tinge to Rei's stoic expression, nothing that could truly be considered a smile or a smirk, but nothing overly reserved either.

Regardless, the bluenette watched with a bit of interest as Blair went over her own opinion of Japan... with what seemed to be a bit of hesitation or something similar. Naturally, Rei couldn't help but be curious, but was quick to restrain himself. After all, it was more fun to analyze and figure it out that way, as opposed to invading someone's privacy and possibly having them spell it out to him.

Sighing, he ran his fingers through his hair and observed how, despite the way the girl had spoken, she wore a smile on her face if for naught but a moment. With the next question asked, Takeda quickly took the girl's change in expression as a queue to suppress his own... half-smile, or whatever the odd expression could be called. At that point, he began to compile his thoughts, adjusted his glasses, and began to speak,

"Honestly, I believe that America is better because... the people are more interesting. I'm afraid that I can't really describe what else makes this country better, and for that I apologize."

It was true, what made America better was really something he could not describe with words, certainly the people were one aspect, but the other things Rei could have said he simply didn't. Things like "I have friends here" or other embarrassing or otherwise stupid things like that.
Edited by Cipher, Jun 27 2013, 03:57 PM.
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He had...completely misunderstood her, hadn't he? It figured. Her first few days in America, of course she was going to get misunderstood about what exactly she had said. Still, how could she have made it any clearer? The girl resisted the urge to shake her head, and instead settled her gaze on him as she wondered what to say now. First, of course, she'd have to correct the misunderstanding that had cropped up somehow, but then what...?

Perhaps just talking to him would work. About....well, she could get the actual answer to what she had asked, that was a start, wasn't it? "That..is not what I meant, Rei. I didn't want to know about what made America better. I wanted to know what America is like," she said, flatly. Not coldly or positively, just...flatly because she wasn't sure how to say such a fact any other way. If she had wanted to ask what was so much better about America, she would have, but she wanted to judge that for herself. She supposed one thing that was definitely better was the fact that they had so many books. Japan had many as well, of course, but America had a plethora, not to mention the presence of them meant she had so many new things to learn and do. It was exciting, to say the least.

"So...I'll ask again. What's different about America compared to Japan? What sort of things can I look forward to?" she asked of him. She could also have asked what kind of difficulties she'd have getting used to life in America, but she wasn't quite sure he'd be able to tell her that much. Anything, however, he could tell her would be most appreciated. Assuming that he didn't misunderstand her a second time and give her a wrong answer again. Well, not wrong, just...misguided?
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The instant the girl made clarification on her statement, the bluenette simply nodded and let out a bit of a sigh. After all, to him... anything that equated to words like "misunderstanding" or "failure" were synonymous with incompetence. Therefore, it was almost pride wounding to not understand the meaning when it had been so clear in the first place. Naturally this incompetence came with a lot of mental berating on his part, perhaps to the point of going a little too far. But then again, such was the nature of one typically so proud.

Regardless, upon the repetition of the questions, Rei simply adjusted his glasses and began to think. What sort of things did one have to look forward too? Would those things be something they'd agree on... or were they simply oddities. After all, despite what he'd displayed Rei wasn't exactly the most... understanding of individuals, nor was he the most normal in comparison to the average American (or even the average Japanese) youth. Not that he really cared, despite knowing such a fact.

Naturally, the former of the two questions required quite a bit more thought. After all, it wasn't as though he'd gone very far from home while living in Japan, so he wasn't exactly at liberty to judge differences between the two countries besides the basic things like culture, education, and health care (well, perhaps not that last one, for it would be... troublesome to discuss.)

"I suppose I only capable of giving two examples of such things, my apologies. Firstly, I'm certain you'll meet a large quantity of interesting individuals and secondly, the libraries here have some fairly interesting books that one simply cannot obtain while living in Japan. Of course, perhaps these things aren't exciting in your opinion..."

And then, coming to a close, the bluenette began to let his mind wander. Would the girl find those things truly worthy of her interest, or would they simply fade into the deepest reaches of her memory? Well, since there was only one way to tell, he watched with great intent. After all, if they shared hobbies then perhaps that would provide a topic for future conversations. Regardless, even as inexperienced as he was... it would be impolite not to touch upon the first question that was asked,

"As for differences, I'm afraid I cannot really answer that. I seldom left home or interacted with my peers when living in Osaka, I'm afraid."

Naturally those words were spoken with a sort of self-hatred about them. After all, it was pride wounding to admit he was unable to answer the question, and even more so to describe his lack of a social life in Japan despite his "popularity" in America. Even then, Rei wouldn't have described himself as a popular individual, that was simply how Mai had put it during their initial meeting.

(OOC: Apologies for both this post and the last one, I suppose that's why it's unwise to post immediately after waking up.)
Edited by Cipher, Jun 28 2013, 11:38 PM.
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So people and books, huh?" she questioned, restraining a giggle. He was an interesting fellow, now wasn't he? It amused her a little bit, that he had such...well, little skill when it came to talking to others. Not that she had a lot of skill either, considering how much she shunned people in favor of working herself to the bone for studying or for the clubs or for her job, but still. Even she realized how bad he was at talking to others, but it wasn't as if she had any room to say anything. It'd be, to use an analogy, the pot calling the kettle black. "Those are both good things, but they're things you can do anywhere. To be fair though, you did only move here recently too," she commented. What was it he had said?

A month ago? It was something like that, for certain, so how could she expect him to give her a good idea of what she could expect in America? Still, he had to have experienced some things, he just...had to not be able to think of them right now. Which was something she also understood. Sometimes, as much as she hated to admit it, she forgot to do things due to the simple fact that, well, she was so busy a lot of the time. She kept her stress hidden, but it still caused her to be just a little bit forgetful. If only the boy knew, though, that she was already working at the library, so already a half of his suggestions didn't work. Still, meeting people in and of itself would be a nice experience for her. It would give her a sense of what life was like for Americans. Not to mention this was a prestigious school, to say the least. If she did well here, she was sure to do well anywhere.

"Anyway...I can empathize with that. I don't really talk much with people either, at least back in Japan," Blair stated. The only exception to that had been, of course, Miyuki. The girl had just been so...persistent, and she was glad that she had given her a chance to become her friend. Blair honestly didn't know what she would be doing right then had she never met that girl. She probably would have gone crazy under the stress, really. Even now she relied on the other girl to keep her spirits up, even while the two of them were continents away from one another. "I've always just focused on school and other things like that too much, I guess." she added, mostly as an after thought.
Edited by Nokani, Jul 10 2013, 04:13 AM.
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