Courtyard [Open]

[snakesonaprincess]

This place was strange. Far too strange. No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn't come to any conclusions as to what was going on. And she hated that feeling. Right now what she needed more than anything else was information, but she had no idea how to obtain it. The methods she employed back home wouldn't work here; no, for some reason she couldn't even account for where a great deal of that information had come from, or even what it was.

She was a bit late, it seemed, which worked to her disadvantage. She might have been able to find out something important if she'd arrived earlier, but she doubted anyone had discovered anything crucial yet. She had watched the introduction video intently, absorbing and committing every word to memory. But she learned nothing particularly useful or new. Exaclan. Whatever this place was, it used the same system, but lacked the same purpose. Girls could be Players here too. Then what could possibly be the aim of the game here? She frowned, as she couldn't help but think she was forgetting something important about the nature of the game back home, but could only draw blanks as to what that was. How frustrating.

For the time being, she simply sat outside on a bench, reading a book quietly to herself. Answers would probably come with time, even though that was hardly a satisfying way of looking at things. But for now waiting and watching was all she could do.

Ah, yes, of course, there was one other thing; she would need to find an owner eventually. That would have to be here highest priority for now. Being unable to access various facilities was unacceptable to her, especially given their potential use in obtaining information. She could care less about the the recreational facilities, but the libraries and computer labs were a must.

...access to dessert would be nice too, but wasn't a particularly high priority.

And so with that conclusion reached, she slowly closed her book and glanced around the courtyard, for anyone that could be of use. For the time being it hardly mattered who she chose as her owner; one person was as good as any other. Of course, she had an ideal choice as far as Players was concerned, but that wasn't an option for the time being. In fact, perhaps that was for the best for now anyway.

Comments

[myownfuture]

Reiko had decided to come do her homework outside today. Even if this wasn't the same Utopia Academy, it might be useful to attend class; there might be answers there. Or maybe not; there might be no answers anywhere.

Carrying her schoolbooks close to her chest, she wandered the courtyard looking for a place to sit. Now that she was allowed to wear pants, perhaps it might be nice to sit on the grass and study. That thought quickly fled from her mind, though, when she saw the girl sitting on the nearby bench.

It was her. Reiko slowed to a stop and stared at her.

[snakesonaprincess]

As she noticed the stare, Tsuki returned it in kind. She recognized the girl as one of the weapons of the Student Council, back home. Sumita's. But the situation was different here, wasn't it? That look was curious though. They weren't particularly acquainted, so why was the sight of her so surprising to her?

Perhaps it was something she'd forgotten; whatever it was, she intended to find out. She set her book down, rising from the bench.

"Is something wrong?"

[myownfuture]

"You're-- Sora's friend. Tsuki Aoi. Aren't you?" Maybe she was wrong. Maybe her memory of that sight had been altered somehow and this really wasn't the girl she'd seen in that room. But right now, she was sure that she was.

[snakesonaprincess]

"That's right," she nodded in agreement. So she was acquainted with Sora then. Somehow that didn't particularly surprise her, although she was curious what exactly the nature of their relationship was. Those two hadn't been acquainted, at least before she'd been captured...

"That is my name. And you are Reiko Date, correct?"

[myownfuture]

"Yes." She nodded, and frowned a little. Tsuki seemed to be fine, despite the situation she'd seen her in before... "Um, how are you doing?"

[snakesonaprincess]

"Fine," she replied a bit bluntly. It was hardly true, but she wasn't about to express her concerns to someone she barely knew. Though she was still curious what was causing the other girl's strange, hesitant reactions.

"My memory seems to be a bit hazy lately. Have we met recently? ...back on our own campus, of course, not this one."

[myownfuture]

"Ah, that happened to everyone," Reiko commented, before realizing that Tsuki had probably figured that out from the introductory video. "No, um, I don't think we've met... I've seen you around, though. You, er, belonged to El, didn't you?" Sora had mentioned that, so perhaps it was a plausible excuse for why she recognized her.

[snakesonaprincess]

For a brief second, you may have noticed a slight twitch in her brow. So Sora had told this girl that much; that meant she trusted her. Not that Sora's trust was difficult to gain, but Tsuki assumed (or at least hoped) that she wouldn't spread a piece of information like that around to just anybody she met.

"Yes, El is... or perhaps was, my owner," Tsuki replied, bringing a hand up to adjust her glasses. "You must be one of Sora's princesses."

[myownfuture]

Reiko sighed inwardly. While Sora's goal was admirable, there was something to be left desired in her choice of metaphors. "I was one of her Weapons back home," she agreed. "Right now I belong to Koharu... Ah, do you have a Player here yet? Or are you going to stay without one?"

[isur2ndprincess]

Yuki was holding this version of Exaclan's rule book hoping to find out any information that may be useful to her and Sora in the future. Her main concern was why girls were allowed to be Players now and why some of the boys here actually seemed nice, that in itself was mind bending.

She had seen a nice spot to read earlier but as she walked towards it she saw it to be occupied. Yuki couldn't help but stare for a while, she knew who the other girl was but a name wasn't coming. But she knew that she was an ally of Sora, and that was enough for her.

"Mind if I join you?" Yuki asked hesitantly.

[snakesonaprincess]

Although Tsuki had never met or spoken to the girl directly, she did nonetheless remember her. Someone connected to Sora, though the exact nature of their relationship escaped her at the moment. Nonetheless, she just nodded in response to the question, scooting over a bit on the bench. There was no reason to be rude, and perhaps this girl could be helpful.

"That would be fine... Yuki Yagizawa, correct?"

[isur2ndprincess]

"Yes, that's me," she bites her lip, "I'm sorry I can't seem to remember any names lately, but you're Sora's friend." She takes a seat next to her and puts the book on her lap.

"I don't mean to bother you." Yuki says after taking her seat, Tsuki has this demeanor that is so different from Sora's that it is rather unnerving.

[snakesonaprincess]

"It's no bother at all," Tsuki replied, shaking her head a bit. Her tone remained flat though, making it difficult to tell whether she was actually annoyed or not.

"It seems we're all having memory trouble for the time being," Tsuki admitted, a slight tinge of irritation perhaps leaking out in her voice. "But yes, you are correct. It wouldn't be inaccurate to call us friends. I suppose you are the same?"

[isur2ndprincess]

She was still a bit uncertain about if Tsuki really didn't mind or not.

"Yes, it's rather annoying," she sighed, "I can hardly remember who Sora is, or the other girls. But yes, we're friends." If she found Tsuki's word choice odd, she didn't say anything about it.

[snakesonaprincess]

She would probably consider that a good thing, although that wasn't particularly her goal in being so unreadable.

She nodded in response to her answer, bringing a hand to her chin. So her memories regarding Sora were hazy as well; was there something they all had known in relations to her that they were forgetting? It seemed like Sora was the common factor here, though that hardly surprised her.

"Other girls?" she paused. "I've met Miss Date, and heard that Miss Izaki is here as well. Are there any others?"

[isur2ndprincess]

Yuki ran through her memories of who was here and who wasn't, "I believe that's all of us," she looked up at the sky, "oh! Tougyu is here too."

[snakesonaprincess]

One of the Student Council? But compared to the other possibilities, Tougyu didn't seem like that much of a threat. Which perhaps said more of the others than Tougyu, considering that he was still very much a danger.

"I see," she nodded, committing to memory all those she'd become aware of. "This might seem a bit broad, but do you have any theories on what is going on here?"

[princesspowerful]

Molly wasn't one for reading, nor was she one to realize that people like peace when they read so she wanders over to the other girl and tilts her head, "Whatcha readin'?"

[snakesonaprincess]

Tsuki held the book up for the other to see; it was one of the books for their classes, Literature to be precise. While it wasn't particularly enthralling, it was at least something to do for the time being.

While not a particularly social creature, Tsuki did nonetheless recognize that getting to know others here would be to her benefit. So she set the book down, turning to face the other girl. "If you have a moment, would you mind talking for a bit?"

[princesspowerful]

Molly doesn't actually care much for what she's reading, she was just bored. So a conversation! Sure! She smiles, "what do you want to talk about?"

[snakesonaprincess]

"Before you arrived here, where did you come from?" Tsuki asked plainly. It seemed like as good a place to start as any; she could tell that this girl wasn't from her own version of Utopia Academy, so perhaps it would shed some insight into this place's workings to learn if there was anything common among those brought here.

[princesspowerful]

"California!" She said, taking a seat next to her and swings her legs back and forth.

[snakesonaprincess]

"An American?" she actually said aloud, not meaning to. That was surprising. It wasn't outside the bounds of anything she had expected, but she now had to wonder just how far and wide people were being drawn here from.

"I come from Japan myself. A school very similar to this one, actually."

[princesspowerful]

"Yeah!" she said loudly, "I'm American! You're Japanese? That's cool! One of my friends is Japanese! Her name is Nico!" She rambled on excitedly.

[snakesonaprincess]

"Interesting..." she murmured, before nodding. The girl was really excitable, wasn't she? It was kind of endearing, if only because it reminded her of someone else. "Have you met anyone from... anywhere else?"