rakuen | [ main entrance, open ]

Entry tags:

[ main entrance, open ]

Characters: Rolo Lamperouge
Format: prose/action
This log is: open!
Location: Entrance
Summary: Rolo's introduction post! Come bug him.
Warnings: Will add as necessary.

He wakes with a start-- sits up with sweat down his brow and confusion on his face.

Where is he?

It's a train. He's sat on one of the seats, still in his pilot uniform. Was that some sort of dream? It couldn't have been; the feel of his Knightmare's controls in his hands, the motion, the desert heat-- dreams did not come in flavors so vivid. There was something after that, though-- something that was a dream. It'd told him things that were, somehow, relevant to this place-- yes. Maybe a geass. A geass also may have brought him here. But they'd decimated the Cult's headquarters, left none alive, but as someone who grew up there himself he knew there were places to hide. Some he may not even know of.

There's nothing more for him in this train, so Rolo takes the bag sat beside him. He slings it over his shoulder and walks cautiously through the train and out the doors, murmuring to himself: "Utopia Academy…"

Pausing at the front gates, because it's huge and impressive. Much bigger than Ashford.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Romeo blinked sleepily, a strange dream fading from his mind. He smiled though and woke up. Wait... This wasn't his room and it was moving. He sat up quickly and looked around. Was this... a train! Romeo had never been on a train before but Angelletta had gone to Paris on a train. Romeo looked out the window, and then around wide eyed.

Though it was quite exciting to be on a train it didn't answer the question why? Maybe he was still dreaming? It was much happier than the last dream, that one had been a little bit scary.

The train was stopping, Romeo jumped to his feet. It had to be a dream but some dreams were exciting, he wondered where it was leading him. He grabbed his small satchel from next to him and saw a man getting off the train in front of him.

Keeping a safe distance away, though he shouldn't have anything to worry about unless this dream turned into a nightmare, he looked at the building they were at.

He gasped, it was so huge! As big as the castle in Milan! It was a little chilly, and Romeo realised that his dreams usually wern't this detailed. But still what else could it be, he should be in bed, at home with his family, the twins next to him. "Sir?" He didn't get any closer to the man but he was very polite as he smiled, "Sir do you know where we are?"

Rolo looks back over his shoulder, unsure if this kid is talking to him; being called sir is strange to him. But then there's no one else around, so...

"The intercom on the train said 'Utopia Academy'. That must be this."

"Utopia Academy..." They were strange words but when Romeo thought about it really hard he remembered what the doctor had taught him. Academy was a big word that just really meant school!

He was at a school! He didn't understand the first word at all, but the fact it was a school was exciting. "Really? It's a school, it looks like a castle!" He realised who he was talking to, namely an adult and took a slightly wary step backwards in case they decided he was annoying them. "Sir! But sir... I don't go to school," he hoped to very soon, the doctor had said he would try and get him enrolled in a school in the town near his village, but... this couldn't be it, could it? "I don't remember anything..."

Rolo doesn't know how to deal with someone as small and energetic. It nearly feels overwhelming. How should he act in this place? It'd likely be best to keep up the charade he did at Ashford. So with that in mind, he smiles awkwardly and half-laughs.

"It's bigger than my old school." He says it carefully.

Romeo blinked at the man with big eyes. "Your school? But..." Then he thought carefully. This man was an adult yes but he was younger then most adults, he looked the age of the college boys that Alfredo had been so envious of.

"Oh you mean your college sir?" But why were they in the same place now, maybe it was a dream and he was dreaming of being older. But it didn't feel like a dream, Romeo felt a little bit scared but then he broke out into a grin. He could be brave, "Here that Alfredo," he didn't seem to be talking to anyone in particular, "I'm at a huge school!"

Then he blinked and opened his mouth, "Picolla did you hear?..." Picolla was not in his bag! Had he jumped out on the train. "Picolla!" He said looking around desperately.

Shoujou's convinced that this is not his school.

He'd woken up earlier than anyone else on the train, and - not two hours after doing so - returned to the harbor where he and Himoto had been fighting and met with nothing, attempted to go to the student council room only to be refused as an ordinary student, and been rejected from the library on the grounds that he was a Discard -

Ridiculous. It's utterly ridiculous, which is why he's pacing briskly through the school now, lost and disoriented but trying not to seem as such.

And, passing by the front gates, he brushes past Rolo, muttering quietly all the while. "Can't understand it, this can't be right, this can't be Utopia Academy --"

"Why not?" Rolo asks, bristling at the contact and hearing the boy murmur to himself. He looks to Shoujou with suspicion, but keeps his face level. Neutral.

Shoujou snaps out of his rambling at the sound of another voice, abruptly turning toward the other boy with a surprised expression. "...it's just wrong," he says, after a pause. "It's not what I remember."

"What do you mean?" Rolo puts on a more relaxed expression, trying to seem approachable. Information is good; information is power.

"I'm a member of the student council, but --" Another pause. Shoujou considers the facts. If anything, there must be a bug in the system; if he tried to look for the other council members...

"You're a new student, aren't you?" he asks, smiling out of habit.

"Yes, I am." Rolo nods once before pausing just slightly. "This is your school? You're not new like I am."

"I'm not." Or at least, he's not supposed to be. But there's no point in discussing with a new student the nuances of the Exaclan system - so Shoujou lets the matter drop.

There's an odd tension in the air, and for a while Shoujou can't quite place what it is - and then he realizes that the two of them are being careful. Something is wrong. Something is suspicious.

They're keeping secrets.

"Um, by any chance," Shoujou begins, hesitancy in every syllable, "have you seen anyone with a student council armband? I mean, I guess not, but..."

And Rolo begins to feel that as well. The carefulness, the steady beat of their conversation. Yes. Secrets. That's right.

"I haven't," he says, and while Shoujou is happy to let the matter drop, Rolo thinks there could be something to be gleaned. "You're not new here, but you said it wasn't right. What has changed?"

Persistent. Shoujou can't say he enjoys the curiosity. Everything would be a suitable answer, but nothing would be a better one. Shoujou goes with neither. "The faculty is treating me like a new student. There must be some sort of mistake." Then he changes tacks again. "If you see someone, would you please let them know that --"

Name. Why can't he remember his first name?

More importantly, does he want this person knowing his name to begin with?

"-- ah, know that I'm looking for them?"

Romeo had skipped behind the first man so that he was just out of sight of the second. He wasn't scared as such, but it was always best to err on the side of caution when it came to adults and this second adult had looked annoyed when he approached.

It must be a college, they were so much older then Romeo and if this wasn't a dream then it must be real! That was exciting and scary all at the same time, the doctor must have sent him here. He listened to the two boys, not understanding there words.

He missed Picollo, he didn't know where the weasal had gotten too but he hadn't came at Romeo's call and that probably meant the doctor had made him leave him at home, he was probably playing with the twins right now.

"Student council?" It was another phrase he didn't understand and he repeated it to himself, wondering what it meant.

[ooc: Hope you don't mind me threadjacking! Feel free to ignore him if you do mind :D]

Rolo is about to reply when Romeo jumps in. He looks from him to Shoujou and nods slowly, carefully. "I will. And I see."

Inwardly, Shoujou is relieved by the interruption.

"Thank you." Shoujou addresses Rolo, inclining his head slightly in lieu of a formal bow. "And, ah..."

He turns to the youngest boy -- how had he not noticed him before? "What about it?"

Romeo's eyes widened a little when the man spoke to him but he was determined to be brave. After all he was at a school, his dreams were coming true. So stood up a little taller, "What's a student council, sir?" He hoped the men wouldn't mind the question.

"A student council is... well," Rolo is unsure of how to explain it, exactly. He thinks to the Student Council back home, at Ashford. "Some of the things a student council will do is organize school-wide events. Fundraisers. Things like that."

"The Utopia Academy Student Council," Shoujou recites, "is responsible for managing the affairs of the student body, overseeing the Exaclan system, and reporting directly to the school board. Members are selected not through student election but by the president, who in turn is handpicked by the board chairman. It consists of a president, vice-president, and five officers."

Then he pauses. "Or, well... at least, it's supposed to."

Romeo sort of understood what the first man was saying, well he understood events, like circus', but he had no idea what a fundraiser was. Then the second boy spoke and Romeo's eyes widened at the stream of words that he did not understand. Exaclan, school board, election, president...

"Oh," he said in a small voice. When the doctor had told him he could go to school he had thought in the next town, in a school with other children his age. Not here, where people spoke about things he had no idea about.

Still the man had not acted annoyed with him, and seemed happy enough to explain things so Romeo took advantage of that and continued to be brave. "What's a president? And an Exaclan system?" They seemed the two big important words in there.

"A president is the head of the student council. The person in charge." Rolo falls into formality. He isn't sure of what an Exaclan is, so falls silent on that.

Shoujou was quite certain he had better things to be doing.

"Mm, basically," he said, smiling. "As for Exaclan... why don't you two head inside the school? I think you'll figure out what it is soon enough, as soon as you find a game going on."

The person in charge... did they mean like a king? Or just like a boss? Or a leader? Romeo nodded, he understood that, a group of people with a leader in charge! Like the Black Brothers!

Satisfied Romeo smiled, "Thank you sirs!" He looked at the school with a mixture of fear and excitement. Maybe Exaclan was a special subject, like geography!

He looked to see if the other man was going to go in as well as bravely stepped through the gates.

And Rolo too is sure there's something better to be done.

"That's a good idea," Rolo says. "I'll do that." He steps into the school after Romeo.

As they step into the school, someone steps out.

Or rather, steps into them, since Sora, running to see who the tram had brought in now, wasn't expecting anyone to actually be at the lobby so fast.

Crash!

"Ah, my mistake-"

Out of instinct, Shoujou snaps to attention even before he hears the newcomer's voice, all hint of formality and politeness gone -- the tight smile replaced by a bestial snarl, his hands balling into fists, nails digging into his palms.

Why? Why is she here now?

"Himoto-san!"

They walked into the main hall, which was so huge it was as big as the hall they had found themselves in when they had snuck into the castle to help Alfredo see the king. Then a woman appeared, she looked like she was in college too. She walked into the man who spoke in big words and apologised but the man was angry.

Romeo's eyes widened as he snarled and his fists looked like he was about to hit to woman. Without pausing to think Romeo stepped in front of the girl, facing the boy and spreading his arms in a protective gesture. "Don't hit her!"

Rolo is surprised at the girl's sudden appearance-- anyone would be-- and opens his mouth to apologize as well when Shoujou snaps at her. Yes. The tension earlier... he has enemies.

Rolo takes a step back and watches quietly, saying not a word.

"Shoujou!" There was not nearly enough animosity in her answering exclamation. That is to say, there was none at all, and she actually sounded happy. "You're-!"

She hadn't noticed his fists clenching as any kind of threat, so when the youngest boy ran between the two of them, she started and looked down at him. Then at the boy who had moved away from them. "It's okay," she said to them both, and to Shoujou too.

With him here, away from Iwahijiri, maybe she really could help him. Almost absently, she rested a hand on her small protector's shoulder, in case she needed to move him out of the way rapidly. "I'm not going to fight you."

Don't hit her. The thought was almost laughable. With teeth gritted, Shoujou took in the scene before him: himself, Himoto Sora, the boy to the side, the 'protector' in between. What did he think he could accomplish like that? You couldn't do a thing just trying to protect people...

And her reaction! "Don't you dare call out my name like that," he spat. "Like we're - like we're - like you know me!" They were not friends; she was supposed to hate him; they had been fighting only moments earlier, hadn't they? But he didn't have a Weapon anymore...

He glared briefly at the boy who had stepped to the side (there had only been one person who had ever reacted to him so calmly, and that was Tsuki Aoi) before relaxing visibly, red imprints from his nails on his palms. "Where are we?" he asked. "This isn't Utopia Academy. This isn't our academy."

Romeo glanced up sideways at the woman who had put her hand on his shoulder he gave a small half smile before looking back at the man with a determined look on his face. What the man said didn't make any sense to Romeo but he didn't move, just in case the man decided to get violent, you could never tell and now Romeo had decided to protect this woman he did not want her getting hurt.

Rolo stays silent despite being addressed; he just nods. There isn't anything for him to say, and just listening could glean information. Let them talk, don't interrupt.

"It is and it isn't! It's an academy without Iwahijiri," she explained, her smile somehow both determined and friendly, "Without the oppression. So... you don't have to fight us any more. Without the threat of Iwahijiri, they take our memories to make us fight, but that means we're all on the same side, you see?"

Okay, so she wasn't the best person to ask for a coherent explanation.

"Without Iwahijiri?" Impossible. Impossible. For Iwahijiri to simply disappear in one day -- impossible. El was supposed to change Iwahijiri. Only El had that right, because he was El and Shoujou was supposed to... what was Shoujou supposed to do?

He couldn't remember. So, at the least, Sora was not lying about losing memories.

"...I don't trust you," he snapped. "You think I'm just going to drop everything and join your side just because the circumstances are different? I hurt your friends, didn't I? I hurt you, didn't I?"

The man really was angry, Romeo glanced at the girl again and back at the man. He stayed silent but did not budge from his position of protecting the lady.

Walking across the courtyard, Kevin adjusted his new wristbands for the umpteenth time and told himself not to be so picky. The fact that he'd even gotten equipment at all was a bonus and made him view being a player in a much brighter light. Really, it would be a good idea to take advantage of the situation while he still could.

Doubtless, come the next round and the round after that he'd be a weapon again.

As he approached the front gates, the youth finally stopped playing with the gear long enough to look up and out at where the train platform was. Idly, his mind wandered back to what Gino had said, about escape not being easy and if he should try anyway. Before he could even contemplate an attempt, however, his eyes landed on Rolo and he blinked.

"New people?" He wondered aloud, as if the fact that this academy was continuously collecting others was a surprise.

Rolo isn't taken completely off-guard by this new person's appearance; he'd seen him coming.

"That's right," he says slowly. "Are new people rare here?"

"No, I just figured... nevermind. You just got off the train, right?" Kevin inquired, making his way towards Rolo and stopping an amiable distance away from the other. Better than yelling at each other from across the yard, right?

"Yes," Rolo says. "But it's strange. I don't recall boarding a train."

"Nobody does. Have you figured out any of your missing memories yet?" Kevin inquired, shifting his footing as he tried to keep his eyes locked on Rolo's. It was a lot harder than it should've been, honestly. What the heck was this guy wearing?

It looked like some sort of... fancy spandex, clinging to his body in all the wrong places.

"Missing memories?" Rolo blinks. He'd completely forgotten he was wearing his suit; he should probably change out of it soon. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, it's part of the introduction." Kevin waved his hand dismissively, unaware that he was potentially dropping a massive bomb on Rolo.

"There's this stupid game on campus where you have to fight battles and win tokens so you can get back your memories."

"Part of the introduction," Rolo echoes, tone flat. "I wasn't given one."

He doesn't quite believe it, not yet-- and he can't immediately find any holes in his memory, so why should he?

At Rolo's tone, Kevin grew defensive. It wasn't his fault, after all, and hell he was trying to give the new guy the facts.

"It takes place in there," Kevin explained, jerking his thumb over his shoulder to show the school entrance. "Or at least mine did."

"Thank you," he says, smoothing out his voice, dropping the flat tone. Much more politely: "Where do we sleep?"

The fact that Rolo was suddenly making an effort didn't make Kevin feel any more at ease around the other, though he did force himself to relax. He had to remember that this was a new situation and that hostility and edginess were going to be common reactions.

Even if it still made him grouchy and irritable.

Instead, he resumed his explanation, his tone curt and unfriendly now. "In one of the dorms, some woman at a desk will tell you."

Edited 2011-01-17 04:11 (UTC)

Well, there's nothing else to be done about him; he'd slipped for a second and put the other off and while it was regrettable, Rolo is done here anyways. He continues his formality, nodding his head. "I'll go talk to her, then." And he pads off.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ main entrance, open ]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

hope you don't mind a threadjacker

no subject

we love threadjackers

Re: we love threadjackers

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject