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Post by Akira Nakamura on Oct 12, 2009 21:26:25 GMT
Akira stepped across the vast hall, pausing slightly to orientate herself, dropping the weight of her heavy luggage to the floor. This boarding school was bigger than the last, and she could hear the roar and ruckus of the autumn fair and its proceedings going on outside. She didn’t think anyone would notice her arrival, not that she thought she cared.
She gave a heavy sigh and scratched her head, before picking up her suitcase again and shuffling down the hall trying to figure out which way she was meant to go. She still needed to sign up for classes and apply for a dorm. There was all this luggage to unpack and places needing to be found. A heavy knot sunk low in her stomach, she couldn’t push back the feeling of being so alien in this new school, new country and new language.
Here I go again. She thought to herself.
Looking around, she cursed for getting utterly lost, despite only being in the place for five minutes! Moving onwards, her irritation got the better of her and as she tugged at the suitcase a little too forcefully a tear ripped open in its canvas and the contents spilled out across the floor.
“Damn!” she cursed blandly and the echo reverberated back at her. Akira fell to her knees and began to gather the strewn clothes, books and stationary.
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Post by Cybele Renard on Oct 15, 2009 8:43:37 GMT
It truly was a beautiful day today. It was the kind of day that you wanted to spend upside down in a tree, feeling the breeze blow through your hair and enjoying the feeling of quasi free fall. This was exactly how Cybele planned to spend her afternoon. Unfortunately, she had some things to finish up at the school first.
After leaving her shift at the carnival, Cybele returned to her dorm to shower and change. First distraction out of the way, Cybele grabbed her backpack and dashed to the library. Silly as it may sound, Cybele had a book that was due today and she wanted to return it before it became overdue. Ten minutes later, she had returned her book and was making her way back to the gardens. Sort of.
An upbeat shifting melody filtered through the corridors as Cybele wandered aimlessly. She had become lost in her music whilst walking. Although, in truth, she was dancing rather than walking now. Students stepped out of the way to let her pass, looks of curiosity, puzzlement, or annoyance on their faces. Cybele took no notice; she was too wrapped up in her harmonica’s music to observe her surroundings. This was unfortunate because, as luck would have it, Cybele’s foot connected with a book, mysteriously placed in the middle of the hallway, at the exact moment she began to spin.
A second and one ‘thud’ later, Cybele found herself lying on the ground. Puzzled by her predicament and slightly out of breath, she cast her gaze around, searching for the reason behind her fall. Her eyes landed on Akira, who appeared to be picking up the random items on the ground. Cybele sat up and gave the girl a broad smile. Cybele didn’t recognize the girl, and judging by the torn suitcase and scattered belongings, she was probably a new student.
Cybele waved enthusiastically, hoping to convey “Hello! Fancy meeting you here. Wonderful day, isn’t it? Let me just catch my breath, and I’ll get my notepad out so we can talk.”
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Post by Akira Nakamura on Oct 17, 2009 18:57:58 GMT
As Akira gathered her clutter, she noted her record of history strewn across the floor in the form of photos, those images of such intense moment, pictures of Akira, of each new school, of each bland existence. Her induction in the Tokyo girls school for troubled youths, her first day outside of modern Japan, the last nanny, as well as the first, third and fourth, and the long drawn out pilgrimage she took as father moved her from boarding school to children’s home; all marked out and sealed in camera captured images.
Milestones, all of them. Marked indelibly onto the engrams of memory, as well as ink and laminated paper. Akira remembered the first photo she picked up with particular clarity. From the frayed and bent picture a red haired girl smiled out at her. Eyes as green as emeralds, eyes that she knew so well she could picture them in her dreams. But dreams and photos were all Akira had left of those eyes...
Suddenly, a crash came from behind her. Akira’s instincts were a little too slow at catching the girl who’d tripped on one of her books. Akira stood up and picked up the book, before investigating the girl – well there was no use in anyone else falling over it. Akira peered down at the girl as though something curious, but not unexpected had just happened.
“You alright?” Came Akira’s deep voice, with little or none emotion.
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Post by Cybele Renard on Oct 19, 2009 6:46:06 GMT
At the girl’s question, Cybele held her hands up, palms out and waved them back and forth. She smiled and tilted her head a little. “No no no, I’m fine. This happens all the time.” Which was true, although Cybele’s falls were usually from a higher distance and usually hurt more.
Cybele sat up and brushed herself off. She gave the girl another tilted smile. “See? Nothing broken.” Not really expecting anything, Cy signed “Hello, my name is Cybele. Are you new here?” Without waiting for a response, she reached for her backpack, which had fallen to the ground behind her. She held up one finger towards Akira in the universal, “hang on one moment please” gesture.
After two moments rather than one, Cybele pulled a notebook and green pen out of her bag. She flipped to an open page and clicked the pen open. She began scribbling a message on the notebook, but stopped when the pen ran out of ink halfway through a word. A puzzled look crossed Cybele’s face. She held the pen up, shaking it in the hopes that it would magically fill with ink. When it didn’t, she gave Akira a sheepish grin and dug through her backpack looking for a new pen.
She triumphantly pulled another green pen out and finished her message. Cybele turned the notebook around so Akira could read it:
Hello! I am Cybele. Pleasure to meet you! Are you new? Well, obviously you are. Or you just like carrying your possessions around.
Either way, Hello!
Do you need help?”
Cybele gestured to the items strewn around the floor, unsure if the girl would like her help or not.
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Post by Akira Nakamura on Nov 22, 2009 12:40:41 GMT
Akira watched carefully, the girl who signed then began writing on a piece of paper. When the girl showed her the notebook, Akira took it. She paused reading the words carefully, her expression neither changing nor revealing any kind of emotion. Almost like a statue, the seconds of silent crept by as Akira continued to read.
Suddenly her eyes darted up from the page and stared at the girl. Then her hand moved into motion and began rummaging in her own bag before uncovering a red pen. Akira began to write. Words were meaningless anyway to Akira, so at least writing them down gave them form.
In swirling red handwriting, which looked a little too creative for the sombre faced Akira she wrote the following before handing the notebook back to its owner:
“Hello. I’m Akira, and yes I’m new. I’m trying to find my dorm.
Why can’t you talk?”
She asked bluntly. Subtlety was never her speciality. She stared back at the girl. Ignoring the items still strewn around her.
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