rakuen | On the platform: Meet the new characters

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On the platform: Meet the new characters

For those getting off the train their first impression of rakuen will be gloomy, the sky is grey and there is a fine drizzle that soaks you before you even realise it's raining. There is a group there to meet you: on one side, four students in black and green; on the other, four in red and white. Whilst the green group are all fairly average; all teenagers, the red group are a tad more varied. One of their girls is tiny, the size of a small child, and her wings are beating patterns in the warm air.

When they notice the arrivals, one out of each group steps forward. A young man in red and white looking serious steps forward

"Can I please have your attention." He explains that they're all prefects of Rakuen, from the two battle schools on the island. Fortitude - the long haired boy and the others dressed in green - and Conquest. They all arrived just like you did, weeks or months before this.

"I know you have many questions but first please come to the person who calls your name."

He looks down on his list to double check "For Conquest Apollo Justice and Naesala."

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Despite the rain soaking through her uniform, Yuka didn't look happy to be there. She'd rather be wearing something else for weather like this, but she got the feeling coming to the platform in a bikini would create more trouble than it was worth. But she did want to be here in case anyone she knew showed up.

Also, she wanted to keep an eye on Suzaku. He was obviously upset about Lelouch's disappearance. Yuka... wasn't so much, really. But she did find it suspicious how essentially everyone involved in the attack had disappeared in such a short period of time. Everyone but Suzaku, that is...

Suzaku was upset, upset didn't actually cover it very well. He had been in a state of shock since his link necklace had fallen off at the camp and returning to see that Lelouch had really gone, leaving a memory and upgrade on Suzaku's pillow.

He saw Yuka and nodded to her but didn't approach as he was waiting in case the new people had any questions.

Apollo was still feeling drowsy as he stepped off of the train, the rucksack he'd been left slung over one shoulder. He looked a little shocked, taking in the scene at the platform with an expression of complete disbelief. The rain was already making his hair spikes droop down into his face, making him look even more distressed.

He wasn't sure if he was still dreaming, or if he'd been sucked into a kid's book, one of those ones about wizards. Trains like that didn't even exist in L.A., and those people were wearing color-coded school uniforms and - a couple of them had wings, including the tall guy that had gotten off of the train along with him. Apollo kept looking back and fourth between him and the girl up ahead, as if trying to decide which one to stare at.

This had to be because he'd fallen asleep at his desk. Any minute now, he'd wake up and have a great weird-dream story for Trucy. Only the waking up part wasn't happening yet, and the damp soaking into his suit sure felt real.

While Apollo did step forward when he was called, it was to say to the other brunette, "Are you sure this isn't a mistake? I already have a degree, so I... I don't think I'm supposed to be here. And what do you mean it's a battle school?"

Suzaku nodded, he wasn't sure why he was on platform duty again but so far no one had tried to hit him. Though he had little patience with this, still reeling from Lelouch's disappearance he was still prepared to answer peoples questions when they were polite.

"It's not a mistake, you have probably been brought here as a teacher. And it is a school that forces us to fight each other."

For a while, Naesala let the staring go on, feeling this was probably a human's first encounter with a laguz. As the seconds ticked by however and Apollo continued to look, he finally had to say something. There was no way he could pass up an opportunity to tease someone. Especially someone who looked as gullible as this one did.

"Do you usually stare at men?" He inquired, voice low and falsely polite even as it carried over the platform.

As if being kidnapped by strange metal cages wasn't enough, now it was drizzling and causing his clothes to cling uncomfortably to his skin. Hiding an expression of disgust, Naesala simply released a quiet sigh and took a spot near the front, clearly ready to play with whatever these people had to throw at him.

Already bearing a headache due to a lost memory, the raven masked a rub of his temple as straightening his hair and put on an expression of content boredom. An expression he continued to wear when Suzaku called his name and he flew forward, settling down carefully onto the ground. Seeing as it was a short list, once he got there he decided to ask the question that was at the front of his mind.

"They don't expect us to fight for free." He inquired, voice wry and filled with disbelief. Although it wouldn't surprise him, really. Not when the last two major incursions he'd participated in had demanded as such. Karma was a terrible thing.

Suzaku blinked, not at the winged man; he had seen stranger here after all. But at the question, of all the questions he had been asked whenever he had had this duty. This was not one of them. He shook his head.

"You receive raks; they are the currency of this city, for every battle you fight. If you win you receive more as a reward.

Apollo nearly choked on air when he heard that, half-turning to give the man an indignant look. "Excuse me?!" Great, there was no way the crowd hadn't heard that-!

Aware that he needed some sort of excuse to save face, Apollo spoke without thinking, "It's just that you have w-w-" No, obviously this guy would know that he had wings, "wonderful hair? It's, uh, a good dye job," he finished lamely. Now Apollo wasn't so sure that avoiding the obvious had been the best move.

The news about being a teacher was strange enough, but the part about being forced to fight was what made Apollo go a little pale.

"It does what? That's... why would a school of all places make people fight?!"

Loud. Wincing slightly as Apollo's voice assaulted his ear drums, Naesala let out a soft sigh and closed his eyes in order to hide the annoyance that was surely flashing across them right now. Only when he was sure he had his expression under control and his ears didn't hurt anymore did he open them again.

"Then you don't deny your gaze." He responded with an arched brow. What exactly did Apollo mean by 'dye job'? Did he mean the same dye as one would use for cloth? Why would anyone apply that to their hair? What a strange human custom.

He wasn't sure what the other man's pause was for, but Apollo was at least a little quieter now that he wasn't so startled. "Well... no?" He could admit that he'd been staring, a little. Or more than a little, which was probably rude, he realized.

"... Look, I'm sorry. All of this is just a lot to take in right now." Apollo reached up to run a hand over his hair, flipping his damp spikes back up and out of his face.

An apology? The words made Naesala's expression take on an amused note as he folded his arms. Not an immediate enemy then if he would apologize to one of the 'sub-human' race. And while it wasn't enough to put Naesala at ease around him, it was at least enough for the former king to relent in his teasing. ... at least for now.

"Well rest your eyes, little beorc. It looks like we're going to be here a while. You should be able to get your fill of me then."

"I'd rather not do either of those things," he said in a near-mutter, taking another look at their surroundings. Apollo was tempted to turn right around and try to find the conductor for the train to catch a ride back home, but he also wanted to know how he'd gotten here in the first place. He couldn't remember that part, and it was bothering him.

"What's a be-orc supposed to be, anyway?" Apollo was trying to ignore the 'little' part, as irritating as it was.

"It's a battle school, we have lessons but battles are more important. Every week a certain amount of people are chosen as those that fight, everyone else are Weapons." Suzaku shrugged, "It is just the way it is."

Sorry Apollo he's sulking at the moment and not the best for answering questions.

That remark made him raise an eyebrow. Apollo didn't know the meaning of the word? Even the dullest of simpletons on Tellius knew the name of their own race, as unused as it was. Was it possible he was speaking with someone beyond the Desert of Death? As his gazed flickered towards the people on the platform, he narrowed his eyes. No... perhaps more than that.

"A human." He answered while he pondered, pausing to give Apollo an amused smirk. Bringing up his hand, he used two fingers to imitate the lawyer's hairstyle. "Though I do wonder about the horns."

For some reason, the answer made something twist inside him. A little bit of pride, perhaps? Fighting like caged animals did not appeal to him, though he could admit if it was for the right reasons he would do anything... Still, what was the purpose of fighting? Competition? Freedom? Or just the prize ribbon and title of being the strongest?

Thumbing his chin thoughtfully, Naesala considered this for a moment as he decided what to ask Suzaku. That he was a grunt was more than obvious, a pawn of someone else important, yet even grunts had their use...

Another time maybe, this rain was start to irritate him.

"Then lead the way..." He trailed off, waiting for Suzaku to offer a name.

"Suzaku Kururugi," he told him with a nod, "Are you Naesala? Or Apollo Justice?" Only two it seemed this time, less than before. But no one had hit him so Suzaku wasn't complaining. "You are in Red Dorm."

Human ... so that confirmed that the other man was something different than human, to some degree. Apollo hadn't wanted to let himself think about it, but he couldn't deny that it had to be the truth, as impossible as these things were supposed to be.

"So what does that make you, exactly?" He looked all for the world like some sort of winged elf, but Apollo was hesitating to attribute him to anything quite so fantastic. Elves weren't supposed to exist, either, but this guy still looked like he could poke an eye out with those ears.

"... And hey, they aren't horns! The rain washed out my hair gel, but it normally looks a lot cooler than this."

"That's insane."

Apollo was finding it hard to take all of this in at once, struggling to understand when everything he heard only gave him more questions.

"I don't really understand what you mean, but - I don't fight, I mean, I don't think fistfights count and I haven't for years! I-I'd rather go back home, if it's all the same to you."

Suzaku nodded, it was insane but he had been here so long that parts of it seemed normal. "I'd like to go home too." Suzaku's voice wavered only a tiny bit, would Lelouch and Nunnally even be there? Or had they been lost forever. Would he still exist? What kind of world would he even go back to?

"But we can't. There's no way at least not until we solve their puzzle."

"Amazing." Naesala responded without the slightest hint of shame as his lips quirked upwards slightly. Despite his initial aversion to the other man for his sense of style and volume, there was something about him that was proving to be immensely entertaining. Something that his laguz half was already immediately attracted to.

More than likely, it was his reactions. The easily ruffled ones were always the most fun to pester.

"Hair gel?" Naesala inquired then, choosing to forego his teasing in order to satiate his curiosity. Besides, it was better to pace oneself when playing with a new toy. No sense in wearing it out too quickly.

"Naesala. I don't really seem like a 'Justice' to you, do I?" He inquired then, seemingly concerned by the possibility. The very idea that someone would apply such a name to him was a little insulting. Crows were hardly known for their ideals of liberty and fairness. No, that was so much more a hawk thing, and even then just barely so. A laguz always prized survival and camaraderie over such a thing as righteousness.

Suzaku paused for a moment before shaking his head, he really didn't. "He is your roommate then. Once he arrives I will take you to the dorm."

"I'll believe that one when I see it," Apollo said, barely resisting the urge to roll his eyes. He would've loved to know what was so funny about all of this. "But no, seriously. If your people have a proper name, I'd like to know. Unless you don't mind me calling you whatever I come up with."

Apollo's sure he could think of some pretty good nicknames, but he's still trying to be polite. It's pretty obvious by now that this guy was poking fun at him, but he'd had worse before. Apollo could handle this just fine.

"Hair gel is... it's a substance that goes in your hair to help style it. It's usually goopy and clear, but - it'd probably be easier to just show you it sometime."

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On the platform: Meet the new characters

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