June 27/ First Meeting / PG / ENDED

[bella]

Character(s): Yukine Suzumura & Kakeru Shizuma & anyone else who would like to join~
Time: 4:00 pm
Location: Hallway

It wasn't like he meant to get lost, in the large school. Really, growing up in Ikebukuro made Kakeru Shizuma believe that he had a wonderful sense of direction. Of course though, he never stopped to think that maybe the only reason he could maneuver through the large city easily was that he had grown up in said city. He knew every alleyway and short cut because he grew up using those in his everyday life. Not because he had a wonderful sense of direction.

Which leads to his predicament right now. Kakeru was aimlessly walking down the silent hall ways, searching for a way out. He had planned on going to the library to scope it out and to possibly check out a book he could read. He hadn't thought he would get lost, which is what ironically happened.

Running his left hand through his hair, the boy stopped to lean up against a wall. "Sometimes my worst enemy is myself," he mumbled softly. The usually shy and timid boy couldn't help but let a smile come across his face. Although he was lost, it was the one of the times where he was truly alone. Which meant that he could smile genuinely without someone thinking he was odd.

[namii]

"I-I could've sworn this was the way to the dorms..." Yukine mumbled quietly to herself as she slowly walked through the hallways of Aozora Academy. As she continued through the hall, she fumbled with her messenger bag to try and get her map of the school out with one hand since the other was occupied with pulling her suitcase along. Just as she had found the map in the depths of her bag, she bumped into someone and fell backwards.

Yukine yelped as she landed on the floor, the contents of her messenger bag flying out and scattering around her. "O-ow..." She silently mumbled to herself on the ground. The realization that she had just bumped into someone finally registered in her head and her head flew up to see who she had run into. It was a young boy with black hair. She assumed he was probably her age, maybe even a year younger.

"U-um, uh...!" She quietly started as she looked towards the boy. She wondered if he was angry at her for bumping into him. What if he was the angry type of person? It scared her to think he might yell at her if he was. Nonetheless, she knew she should at least apologize but her voice wouldn't come. She then scrambled around on the floor to grab her notebook and a pen and quickly scribbled an apology and directed the note to the boy.

I'm very sorry for bumping into you!

[bella]

Kakeru was about to push himself off the wall and continue his search for the library, when he felt someone lightly bump into his back causing him to stumble forward slightly. Turning around as fast as he could manage, Kakeru watched as a girl with long black hair seemed to hit the ground with an audible yelp. The contents of the messenger bag she had slung over her shoulder seemed to fly everywhere as soon as it hit the ground too. Kakeru's face was blank for a second, until he realized it hadn't been him who had bumped into the girl. The girl seemed to have had bumped into him. It seemed unrealistic, and Kakeru couldn't honestly believe that for once in his life, it hadn't been him who had bumped into someone.

Snapping out of his thoughts, Kakeru hunched over a little and let his emerald eyes run over the girl sitting down on the ground in front of him. She seemed to not have realized that she had bumped into someone. Kakeru let his head tilt slightly to the left and continued to observe the girl in front of him. The teenage girl looked a bit older than him and Kakeru couldn't help but admit that she was actually very pretty. He was immediate caught off guard - though - when the girl's head snapped up and looked at him.

"U-um, uh...!" The teenage girl in front of him quietly said that, and to Kakeru she seemed incredibly nervous. Kakeru wondered if she was the type of person to always accidentally bump into someone, like him. Or maybe, he thought, this was the first time she had ever bumped into someone. Which was why she might have been rendered speechless. The girl looked extremely lost for words though, and Kakeru watched as she apparently scrambled to grab a notebook and a pen. She seemed to scribble something onto a page in the notebook before showing him.

I'm very sorry for bumping into you!

After reading the message, Kakeru felt the blood rush to his face out of embarrassment. "D-Don't worry a-about it, miss," he mumbled softly as he turned his gaze to the floor. "I-it was my fault. I-I shouldn't ha-have been leaning a-against the wall"

[namii]

Yukine waited silently as he read the message, expecting him to get mad and tell her to watch where she's going or something along those lines. That was what happened at her middle school so what made this school any different, right?

"D-Don't worry a-about it, miss, I-it was my fault. I-I shouldn't ha-have been leaning a-against the wall"

She stared at him for a few seconds, a bit surprised at his reply. He seemed to be just as nervous as she was. Or at least, she thought he was since he was stuttering. She relaxed a bit knowing he wasn't the angry type, lowered her arms that was holding the notebook, and smiled softly.

"...N-no... um... It really was my fault. ...F-for not watching where I was going..." She said pausing shortly at points. It was still hard for her to speak to people but he seemed like a nice person and she thought maybe it'd be nice to actually make some friends in school for once. She then looked around her at her belongings lying scattered on the floor and hurriedly began picking them up and stuffing them back in her into her messenger bag, remembering to keep the school map out though. After she picked her things up, she stood up and swung her bag back on her.

"I'm sorry... again, for, uh, bumping into you..." Yukine said, slightly awkwardly. "I'm Yukine Suzumura, This is my first year here. Um... what's your name?" She raised her hand towards him for a handshake as she introduced herself and gave another small smile. She thought of this as a good first try at getting used to speaking to people again and trying to make a friend.

[bella]

The girl stared at him for a few seconds, and Kakeru could see the shock written across her face. It was only a few seconds later that the girl seemed to relax and lower her arms that were holding tightly onto the notebook. She than smiled softly at Kakeru, which caused him to flush immediately. That left Kakeru a slight opening to ponder though. From the way she acted, he was positive that she was nervous, like he himself always was, or she had a hard time meeting new people like he did too.

"...N-no... um... It really was my fault. ...F-for not watching where I was going..." Kakeru heard the girl pause shortly at some points, almost as if she was struggling with speaking. He of course, brushed it off. The girl in front of him seemed very innocent and incredibly nice. For all he knew, the girl could just not like speaking. Like he did.

Kakeru didn't reply after that, because what she had said was the truth and he honestly didn't feel like speaking at the moment. The young teenage boy simply watched silently as the girl gathered her belongings and put them into the messenger bag she had. He noted though, that she seemed to have kept out one belonging, which was a piece of paper. When the girl was finished picking up her belongings, Kakeru watched as she stood up and swung the messenger bag over her shoulder. For some odd reason, he noticed that the girl was much more graceful than he thought she was. The way she swung her bag swiftly over her shoulder proved she was incredibly graceful, and feeling flustered, the boys eyes returned to the ground.

"I'm sorry... again, for, uh, bumping into you..." the unknown girl said. Kakeru shifted uncomfortably because of the awkward atmosphere. "I'm Yukine Suzumura, This is my first year here. Um... what's your name?" Lifting his eyes from the ground, he saw Yukine give him a small smile as she extended her hand out for him to shake. Raising his hand out to meet Yukine's for the shake, Kakeru turned his head to the side and blushed heavily.

"I-I'm Kakeru Shizuma... I-I'm a fi-first year too," he whispered softly. His eyes were still focused to the side as he was lost in thought for a moment about this possibly being the beginning of a friendship.

[namii]

"I-I'm Kakeru Shizuma... I-I'm a fi-first year too," He had answered with a soft whisper so Yukine had to lean in a bit closer to hear.

"It's nice to meet you, Kakeru" Yukine shook his hand then let go and let her arm drop to her side. It helped her to know that he seemed just as nervous as she was. It meant that she wasn't the only one who didn't seem to talk to people much which was comforting for her. She was slightly worried when she that when she came here, it would be filled with energetic, happy-go-lucky or snobby-ish types. She fiddled with the hem of her skirt and directed her eyes to the ground, it was a nervous habit of hers to do this.

"Conversation topic, conversation topic!" She thought frantically as she stood silently for a good few minutes. "I'll never be able to make friends if I can't even start a good conversation... Oh, I know! Maybe I should ask about his major!"[/i] She was determined to make her first conversation here successful, she would definitely never make it to be a singer if she couldn't even talk to a person.

"W-What are you majoring in...?" She asked as she looked back up at him. "I major in singing." She hoped she didn't sound like a busybody. She knew it was a bad habit of hers sometimes to badger people about things, so she hoped she wasn't doing that now.

[bella]

"It's nice to meet you, Kakeru" Yukine replied to him, as they shook hands quickly before Yukine let go of his hand let her arm drop to the side. The next few moments were filled with complete silence as Kakeru shifted uncomfortably. Lifting his eyes from the ground, he let them land on the young teenage girl in front of him who now had her eyes on the floor.

Silence loomed over the two for the next few minutes and Kakeru started to get a little flustered. In all honesty, he had never met someone like the girl standing before him. He had never met someone who seemed just as shy and nervous as he was. In a way, it was partially his fault for never talking to people at school, but not once in his fifteen years of life had Kakeru Shizuma met someone who seemed just as timid as he did. Yet there, standing in front of him, was a girl he could guess didn't like talking to people. Just like him. It's not like Kakeru thought Yukine and himself were exactly the same, it's more that he thought they were similar when socializing with people. Before Kakeru could continue to ponder on about Yukine and his similarities when speaking to people, the said girl spoke up.

"W-What are you majoring in...?" Yukine asked him, as her gaze came up from the floor to look at him. Kakeru felt a blush filter across his face as he instantly diverted his eyes to the side. "I major in singing." Yukine added.

Kakeru smiled on the inside at how the girl was acting. She was truthfully trying her best to start a nice conversation. Letting his eyes wander back to Yukine, Kakeru spoke. "Ironnically... I-I'm majoring i-in singing t-too," he mumbled quietly. The boy shakily raised a hand to his neck and scratched nervously. Since Yukine seemed to be trying hard on making this conversation nice, it would be fair if Kakeru tried too.

[namii]

Yukine smiled when Kakeru replied that he was in the same major as her. "Really? That's great! I'd love to hear you sing, one day! Maybe we could practice together sometime?" She said ecstatically. She always got all hyped up when it came to singing. When she had realized what she just said, she gasped and her face turned slightly red as she looked back to the ground, once again, fiddling with the hem of her skirt.

"O-only, uh, if you... w-want to, that is... Um, because if you don't want to, I totally understand and uh..." Her hand flew up in front of her waving back and forth as she rambled on nervously. What if he rejected her offer? What if he didn't think of them as friends, like she was beginning to think? Those thoughts swirled around in her head. Yukine was a very negative person when it came to people. It was understandable though if he said no considering they had just met but... she was slightly hoping that he would say yes. Because that meant, he would have agreed to them hanging out which equals to them being friends, since friends hang out.

"M-Maybe... I should ask...? If we can be friends...?"[/i] She thought as she gripped the strap of her bag. She thought that this way, she wouldn't have doubts about them being friends and maybe, just maybe, this might be the start of her conquering her fears of people. If she was able to make a friend now, maybe she could earn some confidence to speak to others too. She couldn't bring out the courage to ask though and just silently closed her eyes and hopefully waited for an answer.

[bella]

Turning his head to look at Yukine after he told her his major, Kakeru saw a smile sweep across the teenage girl's lips. "Really? That's great! I'd love to hear you sing, one day! Maybe we could practice together sometime?" Kakeru noted that Yukine said it with pure delight, and he could only guess that she got excited when ever talking about singing. He could understand that, because singing for him was like an outlet. He was able to truly express how he felt when ever he sang.

Kakeru hadn't noticed the girl suddenly turn shy and divert her eyes to the ground, for he was too lost in thought. He was about to open his mouth to reply to Yukine that he wouldn't mind practicing with her because she seemed incredibly nice, but said girl spoke first.

"O-only, uh, if you... w-want to, that is... Um, because if you don't want to, I totally understand and uh..." She waved her hand nervously in front of her, and Kakeru felt bad that he hadn't answered her quickly enough causing her to believe he didn't want to hang out with her. Truth be told, Kakeru did in fact, want to hang out with Yukine. Although they had just met, Kakeru felt like he could trust the girl in front of him. That's exactly why he wanted to hang out with her.

"I w-would really l-like that." Kakeru mumbled, as he turned his head to the side so Yukine couldn't see his face and he wasn't able to see her's. He felt himself flush heavily and he bit his lip. "T-The practicing t-together I-I mean" he added softly, as he nervously played around with the bow tie clasped around his neck.

[namii]

"I w-would really l-like that." Kakeru had replied a mumble. "T-The practicing t-together I-I mean" He then softly added after looking away. Yukine looked up as soon she heard his reply. At the moment, she was extremely happy that he agreed to hang out with her. Happy enough to have jumped around in joy like a little girl, if she hadn't been in the middle of a hallway with a boy who she assumed she had just made friends with standing in front of her.

"A-Alright...! I'm looking forward to it!" Yukine replied back. She couldn't see his face at the moment, so she couldn't tell what expression he was making. "M-maybe this might be... a good time to ask...?"[/i] She thought to herself, pursing her lips. She dug through her bag and took out her notebook and pen once more, scribbling another note on a clean page. She slowly and hesitantly lifted the notebook up towards him, waiting for him to read it.

Would you like to be friends?

Yukine blushed and lowered her head, slightly hiding behind the notebook raised in front of her. She was way too embarrassed to say those words out loud. I mean, she knew that she was being childish and that this wasn't really something that people commonly asked others before actually establishing a friendship, but she felt like if she didn't ask now, she'd continue being negative about this. She wanted to confirm their friendship and then maybe she could put her trust in him more and be able to be herself around him.

[bella]

The reply he was waiting for came quickly after Kakeru had answered Yukine. "A-Alright...! I'm looking forward to it!" On the inside, the shy boy was glad that Yukine was looking forward to their practice together. He himself, was looking forward to it because he knew this girl wouldn't say anything offensive about his voice. She seemed to sweet and timid too.

Truthfully, it was uncommon for Kakeru to like people he just met, but the people here at Aozora Academy kept on proving him wrong. Everyone he met so far seemed nice, and Kakeru really enjoyed not having to deal with people who were stuck up and rude.

Kakeru was brought out from his thoughts when he heard the sound of someone scribbling down something on paper. He hesitantly turned his head to see what Yukine was doing, but instead of seeing the girl's face their was a notebook blocking his view. There were words written down on the otherwise, clean notebook page.

'Would you like to be friends?' it read in a nice, neat handwriting.

After his eyes reread the words, he let himself blush heavily as he shifted uncomfortably. "Y-Yukine," he whispered softly as he gazed at the floor. "I... I would e-enjoy be-being your f-friend..."

"Th-That is, i-if you w-want to be fr-friends," he continued, his voice raising to a normal tone, out of nervousness. He once again blushed heavily out of embarrassment. He hoped deeply that Yukine did want to be his friend, because he wanted to be hers.

[namii]

Yukine poked her head out from behind her notebook slightly as she began to hear the younger boy's answer. "Y-Yukine, I... I would e-enjoy be-being your f-friend... Th-That is, i-if you w-want to be fr-friends," He replied with a heavy blush. She let her hands holding the notebooks drop to her side as she fully looked up at him and gave a large smile.

"Yes, I would...!" Yukine was glad that Kakeru was the first person for her to meet here. He was a good person and he was being quite kind to her by chatting with her and even agreeing to hang out later despite the fact that she had bumped into him earlier. If her first encounter here had gone badly, she didn't know what she would have done. Perhaps, she would have gone back home if that were the case.

It felt nice to have a friend. Yukine hoped that she and Kakeru could become good friends. It would help her to know that she would have at least one friend to survive through the three consecutive years here with. More than one would be a plus, but honestly, she didn't really count on it since she didn't know if everyone else here was as nice as Kakeru.

"U-um... I'm sorry if I made the conversation... awkward... or embarrassing. I'm not very good at speaking to people..." She started slowly, when she finally noticed that he seemed a bit uncomfortable. "B-but, I'm really glad to have become friends with you...!" She added in, hoping that he felt the same way.

[bella]

"Yes, I would...!" Yukine told Kakeru that, as her reply to his last comment. Kakeru felt a wave of relief rush over him and he almost smiled at Yukine, but stopped himself from doing so. It was odd how she had asked him to be his friend, but in all honesty, Kakeru was glad Yukine did ask him. The girl was nice, and didn't seem like the type of person to back stab him. Exactly the kind of friend Kakeru was searching for. Then the fact that they were in the same year and major meant that they would be together for the next three years at Aozora Academy, assuming if both decided to stay enrolled at the school.

"U-um... I'm sorry if I made the conversation... awkward... or embarrassing. I'm not very good at speaking to people..." Kakeru heard Yukine start slowly. Kakeru once again shifted uncomfortably. Although it was nice that he now had a friend like Yukine, who could be just as shy and nervous as he was when speaking to people, he would never, ever[/i] seem to get over his ability of becoming easily uncomfortable and flustered. "B-but, I'm really glad to have become friends with you...!"

Kakeru let his eyes lock with the girl's in front of him. Slowly, he nodded his head in agreement as a deep flush consumed his face. Kakeru diverted his eyes back to the ground before he spoke softly. "I-I'm... I'm j-just as glad as y-you... To have b-become f-friends w-with you... Yukine."

What Kakeru let himself do next surprised him completely. Before he had known he had done it, the timid boy had raised his head and let his eyes meet with Yukine's once again. He had then proceeded to flash her one of his most genuine smiles, which he barely did often when people could see his face. After realizing what he had down, Kakeru had quickly brought his hand up to cover his mouth and had turned his head to the left as he felt his cheeks heat up dramatically. Kakeru couldn't believe he had done that, and was completely embarrassed.

[namii]

"I-I'm... I'm j-just as glad as y-you... To have b-become f-friends w-with you... Yukine."

Yukine smiled at his reply, happy that he felt the same as her. She was surprised when he looked at her and smiled then immediately covered his mouth and looked away. It was then that she realized that this was the first time she had seen him smile.

Yukine strolled over to the side where Kakeru had turned his head so that she was standing in the direction he was facing.

"Why'd you hide your smile...?" Yukine asked curiously, tilting her head to the side a bit. She liked his smile, or at least what she had seen of it. It was genuine. Not the fake kind that most kids sent her when they did smile at her in her old school.

ooc;; so shortttt orz;; sorry bella! can't think of anything else to add right now;;

[bella]

He heard feet tap against the tile, and Kakeru was incredibly nervous as to why Yukine was moving. Kakeru's breath hitched at the thought of the girl possibly leaving him, to go where she had been heading in the first place. Although they had just met, he was enjoying the nice conversation he was having -well had if she was now leaving- with Yukine. He honestly didn't want it to end.

"Why'd you hide your smile...?" The sudden question caught Kakeru off guard as he stared at the girl in front of him. Wait, the teenager thought instantly letting his gaze return to the ground, didn't I turn my head to look away? Shaking the thought from his head for a moment, Kakeru thought over the question. Why had he covered his smile, other than the fact that he was embarrassed? The reason dawned at him just as soon as he asked himself the question. Looking up at the girl, Kakeru felt himself lightly blush as he brought his hand down from his mouth to answer.

"I-I guess it's because... I-I haven't unin-unintentionally s-smiled in such a l-long time. Es-especially in f-front of som-someone I just met," Kakeru meekly replied in a light tone. He let his left hand slowly raise so he could scratch the back of his neck. Kakeru was nervous for Yukine's answer, afraid she would laugh. Instantly though, he remembered that the girl in front of him wasn't the type to make fun of people. She herself seemed insecure of her actions, so he knew she wouldn't make fun of others. Relief washed over Kakeru, although he still was nervous because, in the end, he would always be the nervous type of person.

(OOC: Don't worry about dear~ Really. It takes me forty minutes to type up something this long. Which isn't really long to begin with. Besides, it was actually pretty decently long and writers block can be one hell of a bitch.)