July 20 / Softies / PG / Open

[true]

Characters: Chiaki Yuzuru, Hikaru Akane, and anyone else who feels like it~
Time: 8 P.M.
Location: Lounge

Chiaki hadn’t cried this hard at a book in a long, long time—it probably served him right for picking up what he knew to be a heartbreaking tragedy, but it was written by one of his favourite authors and he just couldn’t resist it. Now, he was rethinking his opinion of her, just a little. This woman was a sadist, and nothing less; it was like she wanted to reduce him to a blubbering sadsack in the middle of the lounge while he waited impatiently for Kou to return and let him into their dorm.

This was the first—and hopefully, last—time he’d accidentally lock himself out of his own dorm. After ten minutes of amateur lockpicking via a bobby pin he’d found on the ground, he’d given up and went to the lounge to wait. It had been two hours and his roommate was nowhere to be found; to add insult to injury, his phone was dead, and judging by his reflection in the blank screen, he vaguely resembled a drowned rat whose best friend had just fallen off a cliff, went through a meat grinder, something awful like that. Chiaki couldn’t help but chuckle wanly; he’d looked pretty good before his moment of shame.

Sniffling, the boy wiped his blotchy eyes with the sleeve of his shirt, forced himself to shut the accursed book before it spawned any more moments of shame. But now, he had nothing to do. Chiaki blew his nose before letting his back sink into the chair, blowing his nose with one of the less soaked tissues he’d stuffed into his pocket.

{ ooc: omgasdlfkja I apologize for this ; w; }

[hannah]

After a fruitless attempt to find Ren, Ayame found herself storming back to her dorm with tears in her eyes. It was like he just disappeared, just like her last roommate, Sayuri. She sighed softly to herself as she pushed the lounge doors open, hoping no one was there to ask her what she was upset about.

However, as she passed through the threshold, she noticed a boy slouched in one of the chairs with swollen red eyes. She stopped suddenly when she noticed his condition, and wiped her own tears before getting any closer.

"S-Sorry..." she mumbled, walking towards him again. He looked lost in his thoughts, a million miles away, as he looked blankly with a book in his lap. In the dim light, he looked almost angelic, like he was just a vision, and not really there at all.

Cautiously, she took a seat in the chair across from him. "Hey..." she whispered gently, trying her best not to startle him. "You okay?"

[true]

“Hey…” whispered a gentle looking girl, who’d arrived only moments before. When Chiaki looked at her, he could tell that she’d been crying, too. “You okay?”

He’d seen her before, though they’d never spoken. ”Y-yeah, I’m fine.” Chiaki said, attempting a smile. Sure, he’d been crying, but he wasn’t sad at anything that had happened in the world of the living; he very much doubted that her tears had been as pointless. ”My book got me, t-that’s all.”

Chiaki could see that something was clearly eating away at her. He wiped away a last tear from the corner of his eye, blowing his nose again with the same tissue. ”B-but,” he kept stammering—his body hadn’t recovered from the crying, or something, because he was never this inarticulate on a normal day. He sighed, trying to compose himself.

There is a very pretty, very sad-looking girl sitting in front of you. Be helpful!

”A-are you okay?” Chiaki asked, looking inquisitively at her eyes, which were puffy and slightly red. She'd been crying, it was obvious.

[caitlyn]

The lounge seemed like an interesting place for Hikaru to start exploring.

He peered through two huge wooden doors, and pushed them open very quietly. As he adjusted his fedora, Hikaru stepped into the smallish room. Soft-looking chairs were all over the room, with glass-topped tables around. Night had fallen outside the windows, and the room was lit up by the warm glow of the ceiling lights.

”A-are you okay?” He heard a voice say, and it turned out the origin was a dark-haired boy who sat in a chair with a book in his lap, and ...blotchy eyes? Was... this boy crying? Hikaru noticed, opposite him, sat a sad-looking blonde girl he wouldn't have hesitated to call beautiful. Awwwe, what's wrong, blonde girl? he couldn't help but think.

Thinking for a moment and deciding his options, Hikaru stepped forward and made his way to a chair near the pair. Sliding into the chair, Hikaru began smoothly, "I couldn't help to come in when I saw you two, are you both alright?"

"Here," Hikaru said as he pulled out a silk handkerchief from his pocket, and leaned over to pass it to the blotchy-eyed boy, and added with a chuckle, "it looks like you might need this." It could be considered old-fashioned of him to carry around a handkerchief, but hey, you never know when you might need one.

[hannah]

”Y-yeah, I’m fine. My book got me, t-that’s all.” His voice still shook, and he still looked sad, even with a smile on his face.

"I guess that's better than anything I would have expected." she replied, unwinding the tenseness around her with a half-grin. Ayame had never seen a boy cry before. Maybe Ren once or twice when they were young, but after that, she never did. Not even the men she slayed. They didn't even blink. But here was this boy, reduced to tears by a book.

The boy across from her sighed, obviously still upset. She frowned, unable to find anything to say.

”A-are you okay?” he asked suddenly, interrupting her thoughts.

She straightened up, and chuckled softly to herself, realizing that she'd forgotten that she was crying in the first place. "It's nothing, don't worry about it," she said, wiping at her eyes again, deciding not to trouble him with her boyfriend issues. She was probably just exaggerating them anyways.

Just as she was about to introduce herself, someone else appeared. He casually slipped into a chair between them. "I couldn't help to come in when I saw you two, are you both alright?"

Her eyes widened. "O-Oh, yes, I'm okay, but--" she began to spit out, stopping abruptly to let the other boy speak for himself.

[true]

”I guess that’s better than anything I would have expected.”

Chiaki nodded in agreement, there were far worse things he could have been crying about. She’d smiled, slightly, which served to vaguely abate the tension in the room.

”It’s nothing, don’t worry about it,” the girl had said, though it seemed as though she was trying to convince herself more than she was trying to convince him. It wasn’t nothing to her, or she wouldn’t have been crying, would she? Chiaki toyed with the idea of pressing the issue, but decided against it. He didn’t know her well enough to pry that far into her life.

”I couldn’t help to come in when I saw you two, are you both alright?” said another boy, who had practically came out of nowhere. He was wearing a fedora; and while those hats usually made people look like complete tools, his flattered him in almost every way. ”Here,” he said, handing Chiaki a handkerchief from his pocket.

Well, that was weird. Who carried handkerchiefs anymore? The gesture felt genuine, though, borderline chivalrous. ”Y-yeah, I’m fine. Really.” Chiaki said, finishing the sentence that Ayame had cut short. He couldn’t help but smile a little as he handed the slip of fabric back to the other boy. Whoever he was, he was smooth.

”I’m a softie for sad stories, that’s all.” Chiaki flushed slightly, aware that this was not a normal quality for a boy his age to possess.

[caitlyn]

"O-Oh, yes, I'm okay, but--" The blonde girl started, but then stopped rather abruptly, as if to let the dark-haired boy speak for himself.

Hikaru looked at the girl carefully, studying her -not like he was trying to pick her up or anything- but although she looked hurt, somehow, there was something about her Hikaru couldn't put his tongue on. It might be best, he decided, not to do anything to her.

”Y-yeah, I’m fine. Really," the other boy continued, giving him a slight smile as he returned the handkerchief, and explained. "I'm a softie for sad stories, that’s all." Up close, Hikaru could see the boy had very blue eyes, under the blotchiness and the aftereffects of the tears.

"And what book might that be?" Hikaru asked, gesturing to the book on his lap. Slowly, he looked at the blonde again, asking in a rare voice he would've considered, even for someone like himself, rather genuine. "Pardon me, do not mind me asking, miss, but what's troubling you?"

(switching to purple so it's easier to differentiate. c:)

[hannah]

Ayame sat absentmindedly, just watching the two other boys conversing about crying and books as if it was perfectly normal. Being honest with herself, she couldn't get her mind off of Ren, and her own worries distracted her from the situation in front of her.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the boy with the reddish blonde hair. His voice was calm, but she remained on edge nonetheless. "Pardon me, do not mind me asking, miss, but what's troubling you?"

She perked up a bit, surprised after being snapped back to reality. "I-It's nothing." she assured him, waving a hand. "Don't worry about it. But I meant to introduce myself. I'm Ayame." she said, carefully holding out the hand she had just waved so nonchalantly.

[true]

”And what book might that be?” the boy had asked, voice smooth as marble.

”It’s called ‘A Lesser Beauty’ and.. A-ah, god. I usually avoid tragedies, but it’s by my favourite author, and…” Chiaki cut himself off, realising that he’d started to ramble a little. He’d start crying again, if he thought about it too much.

While the two of them had been talking, the girl retreated back into her shell. Her eyes were open, but Chiaki could tell that her gaze was fixed somewhere a million miles away. Again, the girl waved off overtures of sympathy. It was understandable, they were both perfect strangers, but that did nothing to sway the forlorn vibes he was getting off of her.

”My name’s Chiaki!” the boy chimed in, casting off the veil of self-induced misery that had been smothering him. There was no point in being a downer, and he wasn’t that sad anymore, anyway.

[caitlyn]

"Don't worry about it. But I meant to introduce myself. I'm Ayame." The blonde girl introduced herself as she carefully extended her hand to Hikaru. "A pleasure to meet you," he replied, smiling warmly as he took her hand in one of his, and let go after a moment.

Normally, Hikaru would've attempted something stupid like 'beautiful name for a beautiful girl', but something made him hold back tonight. Despite what Ayame had insisted, that she was fine, it was perfectly visible to him that she wasn't. But it was none of Hikaru's business; he knew nothing but her face and name.

”It’s called ‘A Lesser Beauty’ and.. A-ah, god. I usually avoid tragedies, but it’s by my favourite author, and…” The other boy began, and then his voice trickled away, rather abruptly, but then seemed to perk up as he introduced himself. ”My name’s Chiaki!”

" 'A Lesser Beauty'," Hikaru paused, "I have not heard of that before." But then realising he had not even introduced himself yet, he grinned, and tipped his fedora a bit to them. "My apologies, I haven't introduced myself; I am Hikaru Akane.'

[hannah]

Ayame absentmindedly took in the boy's name. Chiaki. Her lips curled up slightly. She'd always liked that name. "My apologies, I haven't introduced myself; I am Hikaru Akane."

She smiled blankly, and stood up. This guy made her uncomfortable somehow. He was sweet and kind, but something about him didn't seem right.

"I really don't mean to walk out, but I meant to just go back do my dorm. I'll see you guys around though, okay?" Pausing, she turned back and wiped off a single tear on Chiaki's face that hadn't dried yet. "Feel better, okay?"

And with that, she headed down the hall, feeling a bit bad about leaving, but knowing she'd seem them around again. A Lesser Beauty, that was the book Chiaki had been reading. When she'd get back to her room, she could ask Mayumi if she'd read it, which she very well could have. She wondered if Mayumi cried the way Chiaki did at books, or if she didn't let fiction get to her. For someone she lived with, she barely knew her, and she began to wonder if she really knew anyone.

[caitlyn]

The girl Ayame smiled at Hikaru blankly, like her mind was roaming someplace else. Part of Hikaru wished to understand. She reminded Hikaru of some sort of wild flame, for what reason, he couldn't quite place. Something to look at, but beware if the heat got to you. He remained quiet as she left.

"I really don't mean to walk out, but I meant to just go back do my dorm. I'll see you guys around though, okay?" Like lightning, the blonde who had introduced herself as Ayame took off. Interesting enough, she brushed her hand against Chiaki's cheek; and then Hikaru realised she was wiping a tear away. "Feel better, okay?"

Hikaru thought he felt her warmth for a moment, and not of the bad kind.

He watched Ayame leave, and then his gaze returned to Chiaki, giving him a soft smile. Not a cheeky grin, but something else."So just you and me and the books now, huh?"

[true]

Chiaki watched intently as Ayame left - she'd seemed upset, and her attempts to wave it all off as nothing were pointless. Before leaving, she'd wiped a tear from his face; he decided at that point that they were going to be friends. She seemed like a nice girl.

"So just you and me and the books now, huh?" Hikaru said, knocking his mind back to earth. Chiaki blinked slowly, remembering that he knew words and how to make them make sentences, ecetera. Ordinarily, he would have been far more attentive, but his brain was still a little frazzled from his ridiculous crying fit. He was smiling beneath his fedora, and while it seemed soft, friendly, Chiaki couldn't tell what was going on inside the other boy's head. Something about him felt off; but it would be silly to treat him strangely simply because his instincts smelled something fishy.

"Yupyup!" Chiaki sang, smiling back as he surreptitiously nudged the book into the side of the couch. He didn't want to think about it, and he definitely didn't want to start crying again - that would happen again, later, when he went back to his room and forced himself to follow through all the way to the end. "I like books, even books that make me cry~ I bet you like them, too. You seem smart."

[caitlyn]

Hikaru watched Chiaki squish his book into the side of the couch. "I like books, even books that make me cry~ I bet you like them, too. You seem smart."

"I feel you," Hikaru laughed, "some books are that great." He paused, "And yes, I pretty much do. I think I've turned my dorm into a library already." Only then it really hit him how much books be brought. "Smart, huh?" He chuckled, thinking of what to say. "I wouldn't know about that."

(ooc: shitty reply sorryyyyy)