rakuen | Courtyard [Open]

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.

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"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.

"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?"

"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?"

"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."

"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.

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."

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?"

"It doesn't seem advisable to be without one, even if the penalties for being without an owner are not as harsh here," Tsuki replied. While she found Sora's metaphors a bit childish as well, she couldn't say she hadn't grown fond of them. Not to mention the fact that she'd played a significant part in starting her strange habit... Of course, there was no reason to tell this to anyone.

"I plan to seek one out. So Miss Izaki is your Player? Interesting..." she trailed off, fiddling with her hair a bit. She hardly knew the girl well, but they had met on occasion. The idea of her fighting others was peculiar, she had to admit.

"Yes. Since Sora couldn't be a Player right away." Tsuki seemed rather chilly, now that Reiko was talking to her in person. How had someone as bubbly and outgoing as Sora become such good friends with her? It's not that she seemed mean, or like a bad person; they just didn't seem to have compatible personalities at all.

Speaking of Sora. "Sora's going to be glad to see you. It's been a while, hasn't it?" That was as close as she would get to outright asking, Where the heck did you go, did you get kidnapped, what happened to you? That was for Sora to ask. Reiko was a third party in the Sora-Tsuki relationship.

"It was unusual for Sora to be a Player in the first place. But it could be a good for her to experience things from the other side of the game," Tsuki admitted, her expression and tone still rather flat and unchanging. Tsuki had always been like this, even when she was young, though she had hardened over the years; especially at a place like Utopia. But if there was one thing she was particularly adept at, it was hiding what she was feeling.

Even so, her expression noticeably softened for a moment at the mention. She just nodded a bit hesitantly in reply, turning away to glance at a tree that suddenly seemed quite interesting. She wasn't sure how she planned to account for her recent absence back home; she imagined Sora probably had already come to some conclusions of her own. "Yes, it has," she just said a bit solemnly, a tinge of sadness creeping into her voice.

Good... Well, Sora did seem a bit naive at times. But was it really so drastic that being a Weapon would be good for her? Hmm.

Reiko's face softened at Tsuki's last comment. She smiled as gently as she could. "Well, I think she's in Red dorm 1-A if you want to go find her? I know she'd love to see you."

That seemed to give her pause for a second as she thought about it. Red Dorm 1-A. She would remember that.

"I'm sure we'll run into each other when the time is right," Tsuki replied with a slight smile as she just shook her head. It would give her some time to think about what to say as well. "Just knowing that she's here too is good enough for me."

Aw, how sweet. Maybe Tsuki wasn't as cold as she'd seemed at first. "Better than being back there, right?" At least, as long as one managed to ignore the fact that Tomoko and all the rest of the girls were all alone now... Okay, maybe it wasn't better. At all.

"Um, if I'm interrupting you, I can go... I was about to go do some homework."

"In some ways," she admitted. In her case, it certainly beat captivity, even if she was sure she would have eventually been rescued. "But there are things we still have to do back there as well, aren't there?"

"No, I don't mind at all," she replied, shaking her head. "I was just reading for my own enjoyment."

Courtyard [Open]

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