July 22 / Tightrope / Open

[caitlyn]

Characters: Hikaru Akane, Mayumi Yoshida and anyone else!
Time: 6.24 P.M.
Location: Lounge

That evening, Hikaru simply wasn't that hungry. But he had some crackers and a small packet of cream cheese spread in one hand anyway.

Clutching his book protectively in the other, Hikaru retreated to the tongue for some peace and quiet. Contrary to what many thought, he actually liked reading. Sinking into a comfy armchair, and under the glow of a warm lamp, Hikaru opened his packet of crackers, and dipped them into the cream cheese. Holding a cream-cheese covered cracker in his fingers, HIkaru flipped his book open.

He had brought some Shakespeare to Aozora with him, but tonight was poetry night. On his lap lay a book of compiled poetry, and in that moment he felt completely content.

[alyssa]

Mayumi was in her pajamas, or something very close to pajamas, as she made her way to the lounge. Since she had been assigned a new dorm room - thankfully before she'd done too much unpacking - she had spent almost every free moment she had out of class moving her things into her new room, which, also thankfully, was on the same floor only a few doors down.

She would be rooming with Ayame tomorrow, and Mayumi was more than glad for that fact, but that was all beside the point - she was hungry, but in no mood to change clothes and go to the cafeteria.

The lounge was only a short walk away, and it had at least one vending machine, which was more than enough for her. She slunk out of her room in her sweat pants and ratty t-shirt and quickly made her way toward the lounge.

She had expected to be alone at this time of night, believing that the majority of her classmates would be at dinner, but, as she passed the couches and chairs, Mayumi notices a boy holding a large book in his lap. Looking down at her pants as she now scurried to the machine, Mayumi suddenly felt like she was wearing very little clothing.

After retrieving her snacks, Mayumi padded back to where the boy was sitting, eating what looked like cream cheese and crackers. Nodding toward his book while opening a bag of chips, Mayumi asked, "What're you reading?"

[caitlyn]

And then a girl appeared somewhat near him.

Then came the sound of a packet of chips being opened, Hikaru looked up at her. "What're you reading?" Long black hair and greyish eyes, something about her seemed different. Cold, maybe? Looking at her, Hikaru smiled, took a glance at the page he was on, and said with a chuckle, "I tell you this, to break your heart, by which I mean only that it break open and never close again to the rest of the world." And then after a pause, he added, like answer, taking a bite of the cracker. "Mary Oliver."

[alyssa]

Mayumi listened as the boy quoted his book, cocking her head to the side while trying to figure out why that passage sounded familiar to her.

"Mary Oliver." The boy answered around a bite of his cracker.

Popping a chip into her mouth, Mayumi looked closely at the boy. Another person she had never met sat before her, but he looked like he could be a smooth-talker, and was well-read, and Mayumi very rarely found people like that.

She sat down on the couch next to his chair, facing him but stretched out, and ate another few chips. With a tired sigh - this being the first time almost all day Mayumi had stretched or gotten the chance to sit down - she said, "I've put those words to melodies before." Mayumi smiled just a bit, reciting, "'I thought the earth remembered me, she took me back so tenderly...'" like they were the words she lived by.

Chuckling one, weakly, Mayumi asked, "Why are you alone in the lounge at this time of night?"

[caitlyn]

'I thought the earth remembered me, she took me back so tenderly...'" The girl recited, after popping a chip in her mouth, smiling. Hikaru's mouth broke into a grin as he flipped a page or so, and continued, "Arranging her dark skirts, her pockets full of lichen and seeds..."

"So you read like this too, huh?" Hikaru smirked as he left the book open on his lap. The thing he found interesting about quoting to people, was that he could quote from any play or book or poem, but the chances of the person returning with a similar quote was low. Most would return with a smile, or a question. It amused him, but this girl was already becoming interesting.

"Why are you alone in the lounge at this time of night?" The dark haired girl asked with a slight chuckled. 'Hmm,' Hikaru started, "tonight just felt like poetry night, really." He paused, and when HIkaru noticed she only had the packet of chips she carried, he immediately leaned forward and offered her some of his own crackers. "Would you like some?"

[alyssa]

Flipping some pages, the boy continued what Mayumi had started, reciting the next line of the poem with ease. She smiled cheekily, munching on another chip. Mayumi was becoming more and more aware of the boy, seeing him as a literary counterpart now more than anything. No one she had met since coming to Aozora could quote much other than awful romance dramas.

It was unnerving, but Mayumi hadn't said anything about it yet.

"So you read like this too, huh?" The boy asked her.

Mayumi shrugged. "I used to when I was at home, I don't think I've picked up anything remotely related to poetry since I moved in here." Stretching the muscles in her legs, she added. "I wrote a song a while back - just the melodies - and stressed trying to find the words for a long time before I realized that the words were that poem."

He offered her a cracker, but Mayumi politely declined. She wasn't feeling very hungry any more at all, more like a bit sick for comfort. Mayumi hadn't thought about home in a long time - since she had met Ren at the park - and it twisted knots in her stomach to think about it now. She briefly wondered if her mother was alright before wiping her mind completely clear and looking to the boy again.

"I'm Mayumi, by the way," she told him, offering him a small half smile. "I don't think we've met before."

[caitlyn]

The girl shrugged. "I used to when I was at home, I don't think I've picked up anything remotely related to poetry since I moved in here." The girl stretched, and Hikaru noticed the slight muscles lining her legs as she added, "I wrote a song a while back - just the melodies - and stressed trying to find the words for a long time before I realized that the words were that poem."

"Oh, maybe you could try blending the words into the melody sometime," Hikaru smiled, part of him eager to hear how the girl's voice would sound with a melody. "I have a guitar in my room, and I would love to hear how you sound. If you don't mind, of course." Hikaru couldn't help but give her a wink.

The girl then introduced herself as Mayumi, and said, giving him a sliver of a smile, "I don't think we've met before."

"Mayumi," Hikaru repeated, and cleared his voice. " 'Into my life, larger than life, beautiful, you strolled in.'" He paused, but then tipped his fedora slightly to her. "I'm Hikaru, and as you already know, I love to read.