rakuen | (no subject)

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(no subject)

Characters: Tomoko Oashi - Open
Format: prose, action, all the formats
This log is: open
Location: Starting in the Courtyard and then ALL AROUND.
Summary: Tomoko ~~whips her hair~~ freaks out a little. And lurks around.
Warnings: She's so cute it will instantaneously make you vomit.

Tomoko's not new to fear. She feels it almost constantly, and she's feeling it now, her stomach twisting and turning. She's not a new student- she knows she's not a new student, she's been here for three years now. So why did they keep saying she was? Why was she on that train earlier? What kind of new, sick trick was this?

She keeps herself close to the shadows in the courtyard. If she stays out of the way, maybe, just maybe, she can stay out of the sight of those who might wish to harm her. And who knows? Maybe she might see a familiar face, or hear something that could be of use.

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[In that self same courtyard, Tougyu happens to be walking by with an armful of material for his dolls. At this rate, he's going to build an army of them.

As he's marching by, however, he can't help but flicker his eyes over the campus, searching. Looking for the girl he doesn't know but can only remember he's supposed to protect. Shishido-senpai's little sister...

She would be young, about middle school...

And speak of the devil, he just spotted someone wearing the middle school uniform. Tougyu stops in his tracks to stare at this girl. Hasn't he seen her before...?]

[You know that creepy feeling you get when someone's staring at you? Tomoko's getting that feeling right about now, and she's not liking it very much.

She turns her head the slightest bit, and can see him out of the corner of her eye. She doesn't recognize who he is exactly, but he looks familiar, and she can tell he's a boy. Out of habit more than fear, she looks away and quickens her pace.]

[At her reaction, Tougyu blinks in curiosity and watches her try to speed away. He's gotten so used to the reaction of the women around here, girls who never experienced the male oppression of Utopia and thus act like they have the right to be there, that Tomoko's reaction is actually a little bit startling.

But that must mean she's from Utopia... right?

Well, he might as well ask. Sorry Tomoko, Tougyu is walking after you now.]

[Oh god. Oh god- is he following her?

She can't exactly tell without turning back to look at him, and she doesn't want to do that, regardless of if he's following her or not.

Her heart's racing, and her expression shows that- but he can't exactly see that, with her back turned to him. She just has to keep walking faster, and it'll all be okay. Yeah, that's the plan. A pretty unthoughtout plan. ]

[He doesn't particularly care for the chase, not when there's no point for it. Nobody to put on a show for, nobody to entertain... no, he just has a few questions and he wants them answered.

Realistically, quizzing every middle school girl from Utopia is a horrid waste of time, but he doesn't have anything else to go by at this point.]

Hey, you. [He calls out to Tomoko in a bland, authoritative tone of voice.]

[Why is he talking to her? She considers sprinting off at first- then finds a small part in her heart that's brave enough to at least turn around and look at him.

She takes a deep breath, puts on a neutral expression, and speaks up.]

Yes?

[The fact that she turns to look at him makes him rethink the idea that she's from Utopia. After all, any girl who's heard of him usually tries to get away from him as quickly as possible.

Still, he'll come to a stop from her, just out of arm's reach and look her over.]

What's your name?

[That's too close for Tomoko. She ends up panicking and taking another good step back, away from him, before she replies. She doesn't know why he wants to know her name- to piece her together with Sora? Either way, lying seems too cowardly, so she replies honestly.]

T-tomoko. Oashi.

[Dammit.

A mildly disappointed look comes over Tougyu's face as he slouches a little more, as if he's trying to curl in on himself to look her in the eyes. He should've known it wouldn't be that easy.

Still, he might as well ask a second question, cover all bases and all that.]

Middle school? [And before she can answer that question, he tosses her another one.] Do you know a Shishido... something? She'd be around your age.

[She does. But Hiyo-chan had been so nice, and Tomoko wasn't too keen on the idea of offering a boy up information about her friend. ...If that's what she was even. It took a large amount of courage, but she mustered up a convincing, slightly confused look.]

3rd year middle school, yes. But I don't know anyone by that name!

[For a moment, Tougyu leans in to give Tomoko a searching stare, as if he can sense that she's lying to him. In the end, however, it's just an intimidation tactic. A last-ditch attempt in trying to pull the truth from her.]

Tell me the truth.

Sometimes, keeping to the shadows only makes you more conspicuous.

Sherlock pauses on his way through the courtyard, tucking his hands into the pockets of a leather jacket that certainly has nothing to do with the school uniform, and raises his eyebrows slightly.

Tomoko also pauses, seeing that Sherlock had, gives him a nervous looking glance, then goes right back on her way. She's not about to stop and talk to strangers without reason, and hurries a little more to avoid doing so.

Well. He is quite content to let her go about her business untroubled.

If she continues to sneak around in the shadows, however, she will find that she continues to encounter him.

Of course she keeps on sneaking around in the shadows. And she keeps on finding it more and more creepy as she spots the boy. She has half a mind to ask him if he needs something, but the fact that he's a boy is enough to stop her.

"I don't mean to intrude," he says on encountering her for the fourth time, "but it seems we are going about much the same business. Wouldn't you agree?"

She visibly jumps when he finally speaks up, she hadn't been expecting that part. She tries to erase any sign of shock from her face, but pretty much fails at it.

"Um- Yes? You're not following me, are you?" If he called her paranoid, he would be completely correct.

"Not in the least. And you, I assume, are not following me. So, since it appears you find this coincidence distressing, it remains to discover some way to avoid one another. Suggestions?"

Tomoko goes ahead and takes a few steps back, away from him.

"J-just leave me alone, please!"

He shrugs.

"I don't object to the idea, but as I said, we are going about the same business. These chance meetings are likely to continue."

Unless he starts following her discreetly to find out where she is so he can not go there. But that, he feels, would run rather counter to the point.

For some odd reason, she's having a hard time believing that.

"... I have to go." She announces, taking a few steps back from him again, then breaks into a full out sprint in the opposite direction. Sorry Sherlock, she doesn't trust you at all.

Well then.

He spends about ten minutes reading the rulebook on a bench in a very nice courtyard before he starts wandering the grounds again. And this time, although he doesn't follow Tomoko, he does keep an eye out. If he sees her, he can find somewhere else to lurk.

Mai spots the girl keeping to the shadows as she's passing through the Courtyard herself. Something seems off, though. Maybe it's something about how that girl is moving, like she's intentionally keeping out of the way.

She approaches towards the path of lone younger girl, to see if she can help somehow. She can't exactly seem to smile, but she's looking about as friendly as she can manage without her lips working right.

"Um, excuse me," she calls out.

Tomoko glances up when the strange girl calls out to her. She doesn't quite offer a smile either, just stares at her a moment. Tomoko didn't know this girl, there was no reason for her to address her. Maybe it had been a mistake? Still, it would be very rude to not respond, so she manages a quick reply.

"Yes?"

Mai takes on a rather friendly tone, one that doesn't quite match her face the way it would if it were offering a polite smile in exchange for the interruption.

Rather than immediately worry the girl, Mai puts her right hand behind the back of her head as she concocts a little white lie. "Sorry, but I think I got turned around a little bit," she responds. "Do you happen to know which way it is to the White Dorm? I'm new here, you see..."

Tomoko can't help but smile then, because she does know the way to the White Dorm! She can be helpful! For a moment, she forgets all about being in a strange yet oddly familiar place, and decides it's her job to help this girl.

"Of course! It's right that way!" she says, pointing a finger in the right direction and waving it around a little for good measure. But..wait! "U-um, you're a new student?" That's more than a little worrisome.

Well, that was a bit of a turnaround. Were she able to, Mai would sincerely smile at that.

"Oh, thank you!" she replies thankfully, looking off towards the dorm in the distance before turning back to the younger girl in response to the question. "That's right, I just transferred here." A bit more softly she adds, "Apparently."

"I'm Mai," she continues quickly, deciding an introduction would be good about now. "Mai Tokiha. I'm in the first year of high school."

Tomoko can't decide if she should warn the girl or not, but decides not to. Someone would sooner or later, it didn't exactly have to be her that did. "Oh. Um, welcome then!" She didn't know if she should add on that she had been labeled as a transfer herself, despite having been there for years. It would probably just be better to keep quiet about that.

"It's nice to meet you! I'm Tomoko, a third year middle school student."

"It's nice to meet you too," Mai responds politely. Only giving her first name? Well, Mai doesn't mind. It kind of feels appropriate with such a cute underclassman.

"Have you been here for long?" she asks, recalling Grenn's mention of the school only having been open for a few weeks now.

Tomoko wasn't exactly thinking clearly, or she would have introduced herself properly. As it is, she doesn't even notice what she did.

"Um- yes! This is my third year."

"Third year...?" Mai blinks twice at that, before recalling her conversation with Reiko. "Oh, you mean you went to a school just like this too?"

Tsuki had never met Tomoko in person, though she knew of her. Recognition settled in as she spotted the girl, though thanks to her loss of memories she couldn't recall that Tomoko had been one of Sora's weapons back home. Regardless, a familiar face was always a bit comforting... even if Tsuki wasn't the type to show that.

"Trying to sneak around like that just draws more attention to you," she stated matter-of-factly, perhaps a hint of amusement in her voice. But just a hint.

When Tomoko turned to look at Tsuki, she couldn't help but feel just a little bit relieved. Probably for the same reasons Tsuki had- familiarity was nice. What she had said kept her from smiling though, and she was left with a slightly surprised one.

"I wasn't trying to sneak." she said quickly, trying to cover up the hint of nervousness in her voice, and failing completely.

"I suppose I misunderstood," Tsuki replied, though she could tell the nervousness in Tomoko's voice. There was no point in arguing with her about it though, was she? If anything, Tsuki probably agreed that it was best to try to go unnoticed while gathering information on this place.

"Did you just arrive here?" she asked, glancing around a bit offhandedly

Tomoko offers a quick nod in respond to the first statement, and then another to the second- though that came a little slower and hesitant than the first nod.

"But I've gone to school here for almost three years." she explained, biting her lip. "I just woke up on a train, and now..."

"Ah, I see why you're confused," Tsuki nodded. That would indeed be disorienting to one who just arrived from their own school; it had been to hers as well.

"This is not the Utopia Academy you've attended for three years. It may seem the same, even look the same... but it is a different place entirely."

Tomoko frowned at the older girl, but somehow, she believed her. It made sense, in a very confusing way, and she didn't think the older girl had a reason to lie to her.

"But... Why? How's it different?"

"That is the question, isn't it?" Tsuki let out a slight sigh. It was frustrating not being able to answer it. Why was this place to so similar to their school? What did it mean?

"For starters, girls are allowed to be Players... commonly, not just Sora," Tsuki said. "The system works much the same, but it doesn't seem to have the same purpose. Not to mention subtle differences in the rules..."

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