June 25/Reunion/PG/OPEN

[alyssa]

Mayumi quietly chuckled to herself, watching the boy's back until it disappeared around the corner. She quickly turned her gaze in the direction of the girl again, watching, remembering what pieces of the puzzle she gave away readily.

The girl - Ayame Natsuri, she had said her name was - looked genuinely fierce, like she has seen a thousand horrors in the world and, somehow, continued to live on seemingly unscathed. Mayumi envied that, but, before she had the chance to say any of this, words were already falling from between her lips.

"Mayumi Yoshida, a second year as well." she made no move to attempt to shake the girl's hand, though she wanted to.

Ayame seemed like she would be a good friend for Mayumi, but, if she were being honest with herself, Mayumi was sort of... afraid of her.

Nevertheless, being afraid of someone didn't mean Mayumi knew how to treat them properly.

"A samurai, huh?" Mayumi hummed condescendingly. "What's your major, then?"

[hannah]

"A samurai, huh? What's your major, then?"

Mayumi looked unmoving. Her eyes were serious and harsh, like a
cat's. As threatening as she appeared, Ayame knew that it wouldn't take much to defeat her in battle. Mentally, she kicked herself. It was wrong to think of combat in a learning environment. She wasn't fighting for her life, she was attending school. The combatant lifestyle was over, and now it was time to let her other strengths show.

Ayame smirked, and leaned against the wall. "Acting." she repled. "But that has nothing to do with the sword. It's just a hobby. I'm just here to kill some time. So what are you here for?"

Though she was satisfied with her reply, she was also paralyzingly nervous, but she wouldn't let that show. As her father said a million times, To show weakness... "Is to die." she thought.

[alyssa]

Shoving her hands deeper into her pockets, she watched as Ayame sized her up. Mayumi glanced at the hidden katana once more, growing more and more timid. Sure, she could fight with words, but if Ayame were to ever draw that on her, she'd be dead within mere seconds, or reduced to a sobbing mess on the floor.

The first option was less embarrassing.

"Singing," Mayumi finally replied, straightening out her stance. "With a little bit of piano sprinkled in." She was proud of her talent, she really was, but she'd seen enough of the world to know that the actors of Aozora would make it further in life.

"Just here to kill some time..."

The words tumbled around in her mind for a few moments. She couldn't outright ask what that meant, but she was undeniably curious.

"Pulling a sword on people is a hobby?" she asked, "And is it really necessary to carry it around the hallways?"

The fear in her voice was only slightly evident, Mayumi noticed that, but she couldn't address it. She steeled herself, waiting for Ayame's response.

[hannah]

"Pulling a sword on people is a hobby?" she asked, "And is it really necessary to carry it around the hallways?"

Oh, this Mayumi girl was good with words, which was admirable. They could either become good friends, or mortal enemies. Seeing as Yousuke and Ren were not on the best terms, to take sides could be dangerous. So friends it is.

"Don't be silly. A samurai does not simply pull a sword on someone, or so I have been raised. I don't even unsheathe my katana unless I have to." she said rigidly. "And besides, who are you to question someone you've just met?"

Relaxing a little, she looked towards Yousuke. He looked so bewildered and broken.

"Ne, You-nii..." she murmered. "You alright?"

[alyssa]

Mayumi looked to the teacher in question as well, wondering how Ayame could get away with calling him "You-nii." He didn't appear to be much older than Mayumi herself, but looks could be deceiving, in more ways than one. Looking back towards Ayame, watching as the blonde girl's smirk faded from a smirk to an almost gentle smile.

They were - or had been at one point - friends. Jealousy bubbled in Mayumi again, but she let out a small cough to squash it. She'd spent a year watching the student's friendships blossom around her, while she was just a weed in the garden.

"Call it a nasty habit," Mayumi told Ayame, "My apologies."

She wanted to grin at herself, honestly, because it was not at all like her to apologize. But she had done it. Maybe Ayame would be a good friend for her...

[hannah]

"Call it a nasty habit," Mayumi told Ayame, "My apologies."

A smile streaked across her face. A sincere one this time, free of patronage and irritation. "Don't worry about it." Noticing the way Mayumi stared at Yousuke, she found it fitting to explain her informality.

Gesturing to the still clearly distraught man, she explained. "Kiyama-sensei has been my close friend since I was a child. He's a bit like a brother to me." She looked back at Mayumi. "Anyways, let's start over, seeing as we seem to have met on a bad note. It's my first year here, so I'm a little lost. Is it yours too?"

[alyssa]

Mayumi folded her lips to hide a smile of her own. She was glad Ayame was taking the initiative to clear the air of the bad introduction Mayumi had caused. Had it been her alone, Mayumi wouldn't have bothered, she wouldn't have cared, really, but it was a new year, and Mayumi wanted it to mean something to her.

She listened as Ayame explained her relationship with - what had she said his name was? - Kiyama-sensei. Friendship, she had been right, but the "a bit like a brother to me." That she understood, or told herself that she did, at least. Mayumi had a brother of her own, but he was in the States on business, and hadn't come to see her off...

Thinking too much, Mayumi told herself, letting her thoughts slip away and focusing on answering Ayame's question.

"I visited the campus a lot last year, but this is my fist time actually attending." she said, then, pointing to Kiyama-sensei, she asked, "Is he alright?"

[iris]

Yousuke merely watched as the two students in front of him talked. Watching them talk to each other almost brought back the usual smile to Yousuke's face. It was like watching an entertaining TV show, these two girls in front of him seemed a bit tense. Yousuke admittedly loved watching relationships bloom between students, it was a bit of a hobby he had. He was interested in how this one will grow to be... a friendship, a rivalry? Either way, it was equally as interesting - interesting enough that Yousuke stopped thinking about Ren.

"Is he alright?"

"Yeah, I'm alright." Yousuke suddenly said, scratching at the back of his head. "Uh, don't let me interrupt you two." he added a bit awkwardly. God, aren't the students supposed to be awkward around me? Not the other way around? "Um, stay out of trouble yeah, kids?" he added, walking backwards. "See you later, Ayame!" he added and then turned around and started walking away.

Yousuke was determined: he was going to find Ren, and he was going to talk to Ren, and everything would be straightened out. Everything.

[alyssa]

After hearing the argument earlier, Mayumi knew - or made a highly educated guess at - what the man was going to do. He looked like the kind to end disagreements quickly rather than let the anger linger. Accompanied with Ayame's explanation of their friendship, Mayumi knew exactly what Kiyama-sensei was leaving to do.

She smirked a bit again, watching him leave like she had the other boy. Before he was completely out of sight, Mayumi held her hand up near her mouth and shouted, "Good luck, Sensei!" after him.

Though there was a small chance that she had been wrong about his actions, Mayumi didn't really mind a small wish of luck if she were, in fact, mistaken.

[hannah]

"I see," she said, smiling. They were talking so normally now that there was hope that the tension between them would soon be gone.

When she realized that she'd referred to Yousuke as her brother, she thought of her own brothers. She thought of Ichiro and Kinji off on their own, and Ryouya in his grave. Just thinking of them brought back the overwhelming pain of homesickness.

Just before she could cry, Yousuke broke into her thoughts as he answered Mayumi, and promptly left. Hopefully, he was headed off to speak with Ren. If those two didn't make up, she wasn't sure how she'd get through the year at all.

"Goodbye, Yousuke." she called weakly, then turning back to look at Mayumi. "Not to just disappear, but I think I'm going to look around the school a bit, try to familiarize myself with the place. Hopefully, we'll meet up again."

And with one last smile, she started down the hall, the same way the swarm of students had gone before.