Moonlit Beach (Ended)

Toshi frowned, glancing around. Her luggage was still in her hands, her neon green jacket draped over her shoulders. She had a feeling she had taken a wrong turn somewhere. She was pretty sure the Academy she was supposed to be attending did not have an ocean view. This is what she got for trying to translate English too quickly.

Flicking her neck to get her purple and blue bangs out of her eyes, the girl noticed a silloette of someone curled up on the shoreline, letting the water lick at her toes. It looked like a very depressing scene, and the girl was not dressed for the weather at all. She looked cold.

Sighing, Toshi decided the Academy could wait. Walking over to the girl, she shrugged off her jacket and draped it on the girl's shoulders. Bending down, she went to get eyelevel with her. Several of her necklaces clanked together. None of them were gaudy or large, but all of them had some sort of small pendant at the end. All except one, a hemp choker that was the least colorful one of the bunch.

"It's kinda cold to be sitting here all by yourself, don'tcha think?" she commented, giving the girl a childish sideways grin. "What's your name?" she asked, still smiling. Her voice was in between high and low, perhaps like a boy who was still a child. Unlike a child however, it was rich. If her career as a writer never worked out, she has always been told she could be a voice actor or work on the radio or something.

She knew her crazy hair, multiple ear piercings and bold attitude made a lot of people nervous. That's why she never asked "what's wrong?" to anybody. They rarely were ever willing to answer her. But a name, there was nothing threatening about that, was there? She hoped not. While she couldn't care less if boys were afraid of her, she hated making girls scared. Especially cute ones like her.

Toshi smiled; this girl was no reed in the wind. Sitting down, she curled her legs into the same position as Hitomi, granted with a little difficulty. Skinny jeans and curling up generally didn't mix well.

"Call me Toshi," she introduced. "And so far blue has been my favorite." This girl was cute all right, but not in the timid, "teehee" way she normally thought defined cute. "I like yours though. That's a really nice shade of pink."

Glancing over to the suitcase, she shrugged.

"Oh, I'm supposed to be moving into a new school today, Alculard Academy or something. I just transferred," she explained, seemingly bored with the thought of her new school. And it was true, school had never been very kind to her and she was not looking forward to being the new kid. Oh well.

Chuckling at herself, she continued, "I got lost, and tried to ask for directions. The person gave it to me in English, and I'm not so good with English."

Glancing back towards the girl, she added with a smile, "Although, it wasn't all bad. So, I told you why I'm here, why are you?" she asked, getting right to the point. Sometimes that offended people, but she just found that funny. She never understood the point of saying something just to make someone else happy, or not saying anything for the same reason.

(((eyebrow thing made me lol))

Hitomi blushed a little when Toshi complimented her hair. She continued listening, the name Alculard catching special attention. Ahh an Alculard student, so she's new like Ami.. A gentle smile carassed her face instead of her usual smirk.

She let her finish talking before Hitomi started speaking. "Well, I'm an Alculard Night Time student. I'm assuming your a day time student." Of course Hitomi couldn't be sure, she didn't smell like Irial, so she doubted she was Lycan, and she didn't really give off any weird Vampy vibes either, but there was more to night students than Draculas and Werewolves, she was proof of that.

"My cousins a new student there, she's a day time student. If you want later, or whenever you want to, I could show you the way. And if you ever have any troubles with the English language I studied it for a while, I could always help to translate it." Hitomi couldn't realise why she was being so nice, it wasn't like her to offer to help. Toshi seemed to be the kind of person to bring out the good in people for some reason.

She decided she would stop blabbering on and just answer her question. Although she couldn't answer it fully. She winked playfully before saying "Ahh, now that would be telling. Really I just came here to clear my head." Hitomi hoped that satisfied her.

Looking back at Toshi, she chuckled lightly as she looked over at the way Toshi was sitting, "You don't look very comfy there, we could sit on a bench over there." She gestured towards a group of benches a couple of meters away from the beach enterance. "My feet are getting a bit wet anyway."

((She likes to find things that amuse her))

Toshi laughed at herself; so much for trying to look cool.

"Oh wow, same school? What a coincidence. But, I'm a Day Student. Shame you won't be in my class," she answered, grinning. "And thanks a lot for the offer. I don't know why English is so hard for me. Compared to Japanese or German it should be easy." Even if she had no plans to follow up on it, that was still a really nice offer. She couldn't tell if Hitomi was sweet or just flirting. Not that she had a problem with either one.

Getting up, she dusted off her butt, then extended her hand to the smaller girl to help her up as well.

"Hopefully it won't be so cold over there," she said, tilting her head in the direction of the bench Hitomi had pointed out. She didn't follow up on the question about why she was there. She didn't feel she needed to. She had just met the girl after all. Everyone had their own reasons and their own problems.

Hitomi happily took her hand, proping herself up with the other, then using it too make sure the jacket didn't fall off. Grinning, she too hoped it wasn't as cold. She found that when she was with other people it always warmed her up.

"Yeah, it is a shame. I'm glad your not a student yet. Although I'm not sure if it's forbidden to `socialise` with day students, I know it'd be pretty hard to work around the cerfews. Not that I don't try anyway. " She chuckled, thinking about her dream of casting a load of spells in a day class. Not that she'd actually have the guts to do that. Her parents would skin her alive if she ever got expelled. She wasn't particularly naughty, just a little mischevious.

She had a random urge to just skip all the way to the bench but instead decided not to, she didn't want to seem like a complete weirdo. Her goosebumps faded as she realised it was quite a bit warmer here than right up close to the water. A random thought occured to her that, like with many, she decided to speak it aloud. "I wonder how cold the water is? If it's anything like the air, it's probably freezing." As she spoke she moved backwards on to the bench, keeping her eyes locked on to the view. She clung to the jacket for a moment as a small gust of wind blew towards them. Her teeth chattered again, although she was warmer, she just couldn't seem to get rid of the chill.

((I had just seen that my last brackets were put in the wrong place, blame my phone for that -_- I've moved it to the end where it should be.))

"The ocean has a really high specific heat, so if takes a lot longer to get warm than the air does. So, yeah, it's probably below freezing right now," Toshi mused, glancing over at Hitomi with a smile. While of course Literature was her favorite subject, her father had taught her the importance of dabbling a little in everything. Plus, you never knew when you might come up with a character who's a science genius.

The girl shivered again, and Toshi frowned. She contemplated simply wrapping her arms around her, but that seemed a bit extreme for a new acquaintance. She glanced around for a vending machine, but there was none in the immediate area she could find.

"It might be a little warmer if you put your arms through the sleeves?" she thought out loud, studying her. "I'm sorry I don't have something warmer. I could open my suitcase and pull out a sweater, but that might get a little weird." She laughed, then flicked her bangs out of her face again.

"So, what's the school like?" she asked. Maybe if she focused on something else it would reduce the chill. "Are the Day and Night classes really that different?"

Toshi grimaced internally at the word fancy. Just like her old school then. Well, maybe not. The girl sitting right next to her wasn't snobby obviously, and if she said it wasn't bad, maybe it was so. At least this time she wasn't introducing herself with a bunch of bruises on her face.

At Hitomi's question, Toshi smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of her neck, feeling a little embarrassed.

"Oh, I was looking for a vending machine. I thought a warm drink might help," she replied, laughing slightly. She wasn't quite sure why she found this embarrassing. She supposed it was because she sometimes tended to over think things. Usually after said thing had occurred, but whatever.

"You'd think with a high school so close they would stock up this place better," she added with a frown, glancing around again quickly.

"That's very thoughtful of you," Hitomi blushed, feeling almost guilty, thinking about her usual selfishness. She looked down at the jacket Toshi had lent her. " Your not cold are you?" Hitomi didn't like the thought of taking advantage of her kind nature, that's something she disliked doing. If it was taking advantage of someone more like herself, it was different. She could justify it then.

"And yeah you would think so, wouldn't you. We could go into town if you wanted, if it's food or drink your after. Oh, and you can call me Mimi by the way." She winked expertly, the right corner of her lips moving into a smirk. Toshi was a nice girl, maybe one day, if they ever got closer, she may even let Toshi call her Hito.

[So so sorry it's such a short crappy post, I had a bit of writers block]

Toshi grinned at the wink, thinking to herself how amusing this girl was. One moment she was blushing, the next moment she was brave. She seemed to have a lot of different expressions, and Toshi found herself wanting to see a lot more of them.

"Oh don't worry, the cold doesn't bother me," she assured Hitomi with a smile. "Mimi is a really cute nickname, haha. My name is already too short for anything like that. My e-" She stopped herself. That was not the way to talk to a new friend, by mentioning things like that. "My friend used to call me Ta-kun, but it never really stuck. If you think of anything though, feel free to call me that."

Glancing at her suitcase, she frowned slightly. It was neon pink, and had a million key chains hanging off the zippers, as well as some writing in Sharpie, graffiti style.

"If you want to go somewhere, I'll happily take you, but our options are sort of limited with me toting that thing around. I'm sorry," she apologized. "Did my jacket help at all?" She studied Hitomi with a semi-worried expression to see if she was still shivering as badly as before. Although she didn't want to suggest it, she might just have had to recommend going back to school. Maybe she just didn't want to go back, but if she did and was just staying because of Toshi, she didn't want the girl to freeze on her account.

((don't worry about it, happens to me all the time. ))

Toshi frowned slightly, studying her. She suddenly looked tired, and she was almost talking too much, as if she were trying to cover something up. She had seen the way her smile had faltered when their eyes met, although it had been subtle.

"Alright, thanks..." she said uncertainly. Then, instinctually, she put a hand on Hitomi's shoulder. She normally would have bent down to get eye level with her, but it seemed like that had been were the problem had started last time, so she

"Are you alright?" she asked quietly. "Just now, you had a strange expression. Are you worried about how late it is? Cuz, you were right when you said I could hold my own. I've got your back if anyone tries anything," she assured her, her voice going back to normal volume.

"And, you don't have to drive me, I won't die walking the rest of the way, if that's it," she added. Maybe they hadn't hit it off as well as she had thought and Mimi just wasn't looking forward to being in a car with her, but was too nice not to offer. She didn't really know what was wrong, but if she was the cause of it she certainly didn't want to push her.

Toshi grinned; she seemed to be better. Headaches really were nasty things. Her mother had gotten them quite frequently even before she had started drinking. She wasn't 100% sure if Mimi was being truthful or not, but she refused to call anyone a liar unless she knew it beyond doubt, so she chose to believe her. She wasn't really sure what else it could be, anyway.

"Oh, well, then I pick that one," she answered when Hitomi finished speaking, letting her hand slide off the girl’s shoulder. "As long as you aren't too cold, that is. Walking might warm you up a bit, but if your toes are gonna fall off then it won't do much good." She smiled; being with Mimi was oddly easy. She was so cute and nice, and there was never a time when the conversation got dull, which was a frequent problem when talking with someone new.

Also, she noticed, not once had she glanced over at the large body of water that she normally never would have stepped anywhere near. In fact, she had sat right across from it without even so much as a flinch. That was certainly a nice feeling.

"Oh, sure," Toshi replied, waving her hand in a "no big deal" fashion. Jumping off the bench, she went over to her suitcase and opened it up. Rummaging around for a moment, she suddenly threw a pair of neon green socks towards Hitomi, granted lightly.

"Hope you don't mind the clash," she joked, turning around for a second to grin at her. Then she went back to trying to find a pair of shoes that would fit her. Sneakers were out of the question; she had big feet for an Asian woman, and didn't want Hitomi tripping herself up every step. Finally, she found the perfect pair, and pulled them out from beneath a pile of poorly folded clothing.

"Here we go," she said, zipping the suitcase back up. She held in her hands a pair of what looked like red ballet slippers. They weren't meant for ballet however, as they bottom of the shoe was much more protective than a dancer's slipper.

"Sorry if they're a little stretched out for you," she apologized, coming over and sitting the shoes next to Mimi. Grinning, she joked, "If you don't want to wear them I could always carry you."

Toshi laughed, taking the suitcase from Hitomi without a second thought. It didn't even cross her mind that Hitomi might have been willing to carry it for her.

"And it all looks fabulous," she replied happily. She liked that Mimi seemed to enjoy her style. Not many people really appreciated all the loud colors. She quickly glanced down at her outfit, and realized the only thing that wasn't bright were, funnily enough, her socks, which were black and cut off at the ankle. Her jeans were a close second, but even those were an interesting shade of purple.

"Hm, as much as I love the ocean," she started, knowing Mimi probably wouldn't understand the sarcasm in her words (and being just fine with that), "We should probably get going. If I don't show up soon, they'll probably end up giving my house a call, wondering where I am." And that would just be bad she added mentally.

"So, lead the way." She smiled again, waiting for Hitomi to lead her to her new life. And she could hardly ask for a better start.

She chuckled lightly at the compliment. Being playful, she twirled slowly as if to showcase her outfit before saying in an equally playful tone, "Why thankyou, I'll mention you like it to my personal dresser." Joking aside she finished with "But it doesn't top yours." Hitomi looked her up and down, taking in everything about it, to the good choice in accessories, to how the colours compliment her features.

Turning from Toshi she looked towards the entrance, picturing the path from there. Listening to Tosh talk she looked back in her direction. Once she'd finished Hitomi smiled "Well lead the way I shall," Walking up to Toshi, she gently took her wrist and leas her out the entrance. Trying not to make it harder for Toshi as she carried her suitcase, but Hitomi suspected she was, so as they left the beach she let go. She looked to her left, the street continued that way, and towards the right it carried on also, in front of them was the other side of the street and the road. "Right, so now we need to carry on walking down the this long street here." She pointed towards the left side. The street they were on was particularly long and it pretty much lead them straight to the , apart from a few turns closer to the actual academy.

[Sorry this is so late, I'd sent it once, I only just noticed it didn't go through.]

"That's easy enough to remember," Toshi commented, more to herself than anything. She was trying to get the routes down as fast as possible so she didn't need to ask anyone later. As her eyes scanned the walk way, the first thing she did on instinct was access the danger. Luckily, straight roads were generally bad places to jump anyone. Not to say there weren't any idiots who would try, anyway. She used to hang out with a few of them.

"So, earlier, you mentioned you have a driver?" she asked as they walked. It was less to break the silence and more because she genuinely wanted to know more about Hitomi. "What do your parents/caretakers do?" She never just said parents, because she knew there were a lot of different types of families out there, and not everyone lived with their parents. She didn't want to exclude anyone, or remind them of something they didn't have. Although, she amended silently, she wouldn't have minded so much if she didn't have parents herself.

((it's fine, I had to go out for a while anyway ))

For the first time that night, Toshi faltered.

"Er..." she started, frowning slightly. She didn't want to lie, but she really didn't like talking about herself. Every time she did, she felt like she ended up complaining, which was really against her nature. Plus, Hitomi seemed sweet enough that she would probably pity her, and that was something she defiantly did not want. Toshi wasn’t really sure why she hadn’t already prepared a lie for this. For some reason, she hadn't thought anyone would want to know anything about her.

"Different stuff," she answered finally, shrugging nonchalantly. "You know, a bunch of different jobs. I think my mom was a librarian last time I saw her." There. She had never said they, so she wasn't lying by alluding to the thought that her father was still alive. And it was true; when her mother was sober enough to work, she did tend to hop from job to job.

Deciding to change the subject before she was questioned any further, she said, "So, does that mean you don't like school? The way you talked made it sound like you didn't really want to be here." She wondered if that was true about all schools, or Alculard specifically. She really hoped she hadn't left hell to enter into the lions’ den.

Continuing down the street she found the car noises to be quite distracting if she was honest. She was surprised there were so many around at this late hour. Hitomi disliked the fact she'd seen Toshi frown, she thought that perhaps Toshi didn't like talking about her parents. Hitomi couldn't help but be curious, but, for once, she didn't want to risk someones, Toshi's, feelings.

Facing Tosh as she walked, she spoke with a light tone to her voice "Oh it's not that I don't enjoy it. I love it. Alculard's great, especially for us night timers. It's just... theres no point in me being there. I have no need for school. I don't need qualifications. I only go school because I want to. Are you looking forward to it?" She was finding it hard to explain. That was the case with most things she tried to talk about.

[again, sorry for the shortness, bit brain dead today]