infinite_reflection

Entry tags:

campus,
open rp

April 9th

April 9th, 2012, early

It was a humid morning, and only the second week of school. A fine mist of rain clouded the sky, doing nothing against the damp heat that had invaded Eizou Academy’s campus. Beyond the misty and annoying weather, it was also irritatingly early! Students milled about from the main gates, slowly heading towards their campus buildings (it could be quite a walk, most had to arrive a wee bit early). Umbrella’s seemed to do nothing against the rain, but staff and students alike tried to use them regardless.

A scream sounded out, from the cluster of buildings that all the elementary and junior high students were headed toward. It was quite a distance away from the Highschool section, and the clouds and mist dulled the sound. Sirens, blaring through the morning air, pierced the quiet created by the mist. Where were those headed?

That exact thought filtered though Miho Tanaka’s head fifteen minutes later. She could see flashing lights of a police car, and probably an ambulance, from out of the front door’s of the Highschool building. The light filtered through the thickening mist, as the rain started to gradually turn into a downpour. The school seemed eerily quiet, and everyone’s attention seemed to be drifting out toward the elementary buildings. What happened?

Two girls entered, whispering in low fast voices to one another.

“Did you hear? A teacher jumped.”

“I heard she was pushed! The impact broke her neck.”

“I heard she splattered all over the concrete…”

“But we still have to go to class today? Jeez!”

"Mouu, I bet everyone in junior high will get the day off today. This is so unfair.."

Miho frowned slightly at the passing conversation, gaze drifting from the two gossiping girls out towards the lights in the distance. A jumper, huh…?

((NOTE: About half an hour after this initial post, the PA system comes on - everyone is informed they get the day off.))

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“I'll let you have the day off, paid, if you come over after school~~.” There was really no mistaking the tone to her voice, “I'll make dinner. Huhu. Miho can show you the way, we live fairly close to Eizou.” Miho, meanwhile, was watching the conversation curiously (and trying to make it look like she wasn't staring at Gregory). “Is she inviting you over for dinner...?” Mouthed to her classmate!

Gregory nodded seriously at the mouthed question, and then mouthed an apologetic, "I can't say no..!"

With a clear of his throat, he responded... By the way, his cheeks were getting a little red. "Ah, I'll have to call my father and ask... I should be able to, though. That'd be lovely, Tanaka-san." No it wouldn't! Well, it would, from what he had heard in the cafe she was a decent cook. The problem was the flirting, and he knew there would be a lot of it. Gregory was sixteen, for goodness' sake! And she was... Older. He wasn't about to ask the exact number, but she was definitely 'older'.

"I'll just... Call my father and ask, okay? If you don't hear back, it means he said yes."

“Mmmhm, be sure it's a yes! I make wonderful chocolate torte souffle~.” Click, the woman hung up after delivering a 'mwaah~' noise. Miho looked like the poster child for humiliation! She quickly nabbed her phone back, and then bowed. “Sorry! S-sorry, she's.. Like that. You know, since you work with her, but... Dinner should be good, at least? A-ahaha.. ha.”

Greg winced with the noise, about to say goodbye when Miho suddenly took the phone! It felt like a massive weight had been lifted off of his shoulders just by taking the phone away, and the poor boy let out a rather heavy sigh of relief. "Yes. Yes, I know, I should do my best to... 'Go with it'." He cleared his throat! Wait, that suggested... "... Not like-- Grin and bear it, is what I meant." Red cheeks.

"A-Anyway. I should call my father... If you wanted to look for your friend, you should hurry. Class starts soon, and so..." Gregory was already sorting through his contacts, looking for his father.

“Go w- Oh! Yea, you mean.. Ahah, hah. Sorry again, okay?” She bowed again, low. Poor Miho really looked very apologetic about her Mother's behaviour! “You know how she is, though, I guess, since you work at the cafe.” It was only the beginning of the school year, classes had only been in session a week. The squinted at Gregory, tilting her head just slightly. “Um... Are... You in class 2F?” She recognized him, from more than just the cafe!

Gregory held up a finger; his phone was at his ear and he'd apparently called his father! The boy tapped his foot while he waited, then perked up a bit with an apparent answer. Miho might not be surprised to find that he talked to his father in English! "[Hey dad. Yeah. Yeah, listen-- I can make it quick, yeah.]" Uh oh, he sounded a little annoyed with the second sentence. "[My friend invited me over for-- Sure, I can wait.]" Now he looked annoyed, too.

He turned his back to Miho with a sigh and rubbed at his forehead. Greg was quiet for about thirty seconds, then finally his dad got back. "[Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yes. Okay. I know, but-- Just, nevermind. I gotta-- You gotta go. Yeah, I know.]" With a huff, he pressed a button on the screen to hang up and spun back around.

"[I can--]" Whoops. "I can go, no problem."

Miho wasn’t very good with English. If fact, you could say that Miho was horrible at English! Out of all the classes she worked so hard to excel at, this second language was just a thing she couldn’t seem to master. It was depressing, and annoying, but it did give her an excuse to go to English Club with Seiya. All this meant, though, was that she didn’t understand a word Gregory said into the phone.

She understood his tone, though – and his tone and stance both spoke levels of annoyance. Her brows furrowed slightly, but she nodded when the phone conversation was over. “Good! That’s good. My Mom cooks really good burgers and stuff…” Miho laughed a little, hoping to diffuse the tension. “She’ll probably try to impress you with ‘american food’, you know?”

Thankfully for Miho, it seemed his frustration was fading quickly... Whether that was an effort to make it less awkward for her or just his natural and seemingly uncaring attitude was a mystery. "If she can make it well, then it'll be nice... American food's a lot easier than anything I see made around here." Something about cooking on this side of the world made it seem less like a necessity for nourishment and more like an art form. It was impressive, in some strange way.

"Does your mother..." How to phrase this, exactly? Gregory felt like it might be rude, actually, no matter how he tried to make it come out. "Uhhh. Take a liking to a lot of..." He gestured to himself, a little aimlessly. "Am I somehow special? That's what I'm asking." Honestly, he prayed that he wasn't and this was just run-of-the-mill. It'd feel a lot less creepy to have some flirty woman after his heart if it happened to all boys, too.

“Liking..? Oh! Hah, ehh..” She shrugged, smiling a little awkwardly. It was a cheerful smile despite that hint of awkwardness at the subject. “Mom likes, um, y’know, younger… Y-younger guys. You fit the bill, so.. I’m really sorry about that!” The girl was quick to lower her top half down in another dramatic and apologetic bow. “I try to tell her not to hit on my friends but she does it anyway, so I usually just don’t bring friends over and ohh you’re already coming over and I’m sooo sorry!” All of that came out very fast paced, it might have been a little hard to understand.

Still wasn't used to people bowing all the time, honestly. Greg pocketed his phone and then kept both hands firmly in those pockets and looked momentarily awkward with the gesture. That faded into his usual 'meh' expression rather quickly, though. "It's not that bad. In the end it's... Harmless." At least, Greg was pretty sure that it was. Some people were just flirty by nature! That didn't mean they expected anything to actually come of it. "So, dinner will be fun. Don't worry about it." Not that he sounded particularly enthused... Then again, Gregory never did about anything.

Wow... He'd actually made plans. With someone that could potentially now be described as a friend. This was unexpected, even to him. "... Huh." Greg didn't mean to vocalize that confusion, but out it came. "Hm. You think we're getting the day off? What with the, uh... Y'know."

“Oh! With the.. Hmmm. I wonder?” Speaking of classes, hers (or maybe theirs, as he had yet to answer if he was in 2-F or not) was going to start soon! The shoe lockers had gotten rather empty, minus the occasional late comer sprinting down the hall once they’d changed into their school slippers. Miho looked momentarily horrified. “Oh no, I’m going to be late – I can’t be late!” The poor thing was literally mid-turn on her heel when the P.A. system clicked on.

The voice of their principal, Kei Inoue, rang out amongst the mostly empty halls. “We regret to inform you that there has been an accident on campus. All years will have the day off today, as the police must perform a campus-wide investigation. Please head straight to the campus gates, and neatly return to your dormitories or homes. Thank you.”

“… I guess we get the day off!”

Gregory didn't want to say that he hoped they got the day off. It'd sound more terrible vocally than in his head, likely because someone had died to make their potential day off possible. Oh, did he say potential day off? The PA system confirmed that it was a definite day off. He breathed a sigh of slight relief, realizing that he would've been late anyways, and then nodded. "Yeah, I guess so. Does that mean..."

Well, how to ask this? He had to think about the things he said a lot, here. That was annoying. Greg couldn't very well invite himself over, but his apartment was a fair distance away. It'd be stupid to go all the way there just to come all the way back for dinner. Oh! Right, right, kids his age... Did that thing where they went places together. "Do you want to... Do something?" It came out awkwardly, mostly because he wasn't perfect with the language. "Together, I meant. There's no use in me going home if I'm just going to come back for dinner."

Her head tilted when he seemed to carefully think out how to phrase his question, and he was answered with a cheerful and bright smile. “You want to hang out? Okay! How about… Purikura? Or bubble tea? We could go to the arcade, in the mall, if you wanted? You like games, right?” Miho assumed so, at least, because of his phone! “I love shooters and stuff.” She laughed, forming her fingers into a gun, “Pew pew-..”

But then she flared red when she realized she was, in fact, not with someone she was very familiar with. Her throat cleared and she dropped her arms to her sides. “So.. yea! I want to hang out.”

On the plus side, Miho had managed to coax a vague smile out of the boy. The negative, of course, being that it seemed more like he was laughing at than with her. Greg rubbed his chin and raised an eyebrow, straightening out his lips once again, and then just... Shrugged. "Whatever you'd like. I haven't been around most of the city, so you probably know what's... Uh, fun."

It looked like the school was starting to empty; teenagers came out of the building's front doors in single file and headed right for the gate. "I think we should join them, huh?"

“Mm, probably! Let me just change my shoes again.” Miho turned away from him, flipping her locker back open. Her school shoes were carefully slipped off and tucked neatly away, and then she was pulling her normal shoes back on – they were black dress shoes, polished to a pristine shine. “I’m just going to text my Mom quickly, okay? But we can start walking.” Her locker was clicked closed, and then they headed on out.

It was actually a bit of a walk from the campus gates to their school, and she spent the time thinking about what they should do. “We could take the skytrain to the mall, and then get tea at the stop there… You’ve taken the skytrain before, right? How long have you been in Japan?”

Greg did the same, though the concept of multiple pairs of shoes at school was still a very strange one to him. His phone came out when Miho's did, and the boy busied himself with one of his games while they walked and she told her mother whatever. The small walk was relatively quiet, and she had to speak up in order to revive the conversation. "Hmm? Oh, I've only been to the mall twice. Uhh... I've been here a couple months. I don't go out much, though, so."

He was hardly making himself sound like an exciting or even well-adjusted individual. "I have been on the skytrain, mhmm. Sort of ironic, actually, back in New York City all of our..." Struggling with a word. "Uh... Trains, basically, are underground instead." Wait, he forgot to confirm or deny her idea. "Oh. Oh, and that sounds fine, sure."

Miho’s brows rose, and then she grinned slightly. “Subways, right? We have those too. And buses, and bullet train… Tons of public transportation, really. My household doesn’t even own a car, we have our bikes, or walking, for short distances, then we transit for the longer ones.” She rubbed at the back of her neck lightly, looking up in thought – by the way, both of them were probably getting misted with a light coating of drizzly rain. “I wish I remembered my umbrella this morning, gosh… It’s about a ten minute walk to the station. My house is around there, too.”

"Yeah, we don't have a car yet, either..." His father's been biking to work, and Gregory usually takes the bus to school. He's got to leave surprisingly early, actually. "If you want to stop by your house and get an umbrella, that's not a big deal. I don't mind the rain, so I didn't bring one." If Miho glanced over, she'd find his nose in that phone despite the fact he was carrying on a reasonably nice conversation with her.

And then he changed the subject, because she'd said something earlier that admittedly interested him. "You like arcade games?"

“Yeah! Yess, I love arcade games.” She smiled at him, despite his face being in his phone, locking her hands behind her back where her school-bag was located (it was one of those slim suit-case-esque models, although it looked full to the point of bursting). “My big brother, Satoshi, used to play them with me all the time, and I have his old playstation at home still.” Talk about dated! “Mm.. I really like RPGs, too!”

The rain was starting to become heavier very quickly, aw crud. Pretty soon it was going to be pouring. Miho squinted up at the sky. “Hey.. are you any good at running? I hate it, but.. we should probably…”

"A Playstation? Huh... You could probably use an upgrade." Then again, she also probably wasn't as avid with this stuff as him. "That's cool, though." Heeey, he called something cool. That was a first. Greg finally glanced up from the phone with the question about athletic ability, and then he slid it into one of his pockets. "Yeah, I have no problem with running. You'll have to lead the way, though." The boy looked like he was ready to start on that! "Might need a little breather, when we hit your house, of course."

“He took all the recent systems with him when he moved out, and my favorite games are on the Playstation, so it’s okay.” She nodded, with another quick glance to the darkening sky. It really looked like bad weather, today. It was getting a little foggy out, too, rather than just plain misty from the drizzle. Miho nodded again, this time to affirm to herself that they’d have to run. “Okay! Okay, let’s do this!” As if to signal ‘GO!’ a crack of thunder rolled across the heavens. “Eep!” The bespectacled girl took off at a sprint, leading the way to her apartment.

With both of them running, although Miho was gasping for breath quite quickly, they managed to make it to her house in about six and a half minutes and before it really started to pour. The girl seemed to live in a large apartment building, that looked relatively pricey and well kept. “We’re on the top floor, I hope you don’t mind the elevator?” In they went, large glass doors sliding open automatically. The lobby was very big, with high light coloured ceilings and dark marble tile flooring. The whole thing looked rather posh!

“Um, try not to drip anywhere… The caretaker gets mad if we track mud all over the tile or anything like that.” Her dress shoes clicked against the marble as she lead the way down an extensive hallway. About half way through they came upon a spacious elevator. Miho pressed the button, and then it was time to play the waiting game.

Gregory trailed close behind, or more like at her side, it seemed he had the edge as far as running went. The rain started coming down harder as they want, though it seemed they'd just narrowly avoided the sudden opening into a torrential downpour by a minute or two at best. The boy nodded while panting, slouching while he walked under the cover of the apartment complex.

Thankfully he'd wiped his shoes on the mat on the way in, so tracking mud wouldn't be too much of a problem! By the time they hit the elevator Greg had better control of his breathing, though it looked like they were both sort of drenched. Miho could change her clothes at home, but Gregory... Not as much. "If the rain gets any worse, we might just have to stay in, for the love of..."

Miho fanned herself as they waited for the elevator – currently it was at floor ten, and slowly lowering. Strands of her hair clung to her neck and face because of the rain, and all in all she looked quite mussed and out of breath. “M-mmaybe,” Pant, she really, really hated running. Her hands went to her knees (she flashed Gregory an apologetic smile before she bent over to catch her breath), “My mom will go out. We can hope.” Another rolling clap of thunder sounded out from outside, seeming to echo throughout the deserted hallway. “I didn’t think it was supposed to storm like this, today. The weather didn’t mention it… Does your phone have a weather app?”

Ding! The elevator had arrived. In they went, surrounded on all sides by full length mirrors. The floor was the same posh dark marble as in the lobby, and it gleamed from the overhead lights. “We’re really high up, so this might be a bit of a ride. “It’s 36 stories; we’re on the top floor.” Miho seemed to be getting her breath back at least, as she pressed the glowing ‘36’ on the door panel. The doors smoothly shut, and the elevator clicked back into life. The only sound was the sound of their breathing, they wouldn’t even be able to hear any whir of machinery.

Gregory stood up straight, he was catching his breath a little quicker, and watched the little glowing number count down until it hit 'L' for the lobby they were in. "Uh, yeah, it does. My phone, that is, hold on..." The boy slid his phone out of his pocket while they both entered the elevator, and he took note of the... Decidedly odd decoration choice. The four mirrors created an odd effect that made the elevator look deceptively massive and also full of a ton of Miho's and Gregory's. "Thirty-six? Wow..."

He slid his finger along the smartphone's touchscreen to unlock it, then pressed his weather app... The screen froze, though, and Greg shook it with a slight frown. "[C'mon, you piece of crap.]" The boy let out a somewhat dramatic sigh, he absolutely hated when technology got all difficult, and prodded at the touch screen a little more. "Just a second--"

A high-pitched and rather eerie cackle came out of the small speaker in the back of the phone, made somewhat tinny by the decidedly crappy sound card, and poor Greg almost dropped the damned thing. "[Fuck!]" He fumbled with it momentarily, watching the screen fragment oddly and then go black. "Sorry. One of my games probably messed up..."

“Yeah! We’re kind of high up, I’m sorry about the wait.” She didn’t bow that time, at least, with her apology! Progress! “It’s a nice apartment though, so I think it’s worth it. Um.. My Mom isn’t a big fan of traditional Japanese interiors, though, so… It might be more in line with what you’re used to?” Miho shifted her weight while they slowly ascended the building, glancing from the ticking number of the floor, to the stark steel doors. Being surrounded with mirrors like this, when they were both soaked, sure was depressing.

The poor thing nearly jumped a mile at the sound that eminated from Greg’s cellphone, and then actually gave a surprised little ‘Eeee!’ when the power abruptly flickered. The two were suddenly left in the dark, in a frozen elevator, as antoher clap of rolling thunder sounded dimly from outside. “Ohmyg-gosh!” A shakey laugh from the startled Miho, as she tried to peer through the pitch black. “Bad timing, bad timing, haha, this aha.. ah. Never happens. This’s never lost power before…”

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