Moonlit Beach (Ended)

Toshi shrugged.

"I guess," she replied, considering with a nod.

I'm really not all that interesting, can't we just talk about you?? she thought in her head, but of course wouldn't voice something like that. She didn't have much of a filter between her brain and her mouth, but it certainly wasn't nonexistent. When she was calm, anyway. She knew saying something like that would either hurt her feelings or raise questions, neither of which she wanted.

"I mean, I guess I'm more excited about not going to my old school than I am about coming to a new one, you know?" she explained. She trusted Hitomi enough to give her that information, at least. In the mean time, she really had to come up with some excuses and conversation changers by the time she struck up another intimate conversation like this one with another person. Not lies, Toshi was no liar. She just wasn't an all-truth-teller, either.

"So, what are the clubs like here? The sports teams any good?" she asked, grinning again. She enjoyed physical activity, and was hoping to take it up again now that there would be no one to stop her. She hoped so, anyway.

((it's seriously alright. The last three of my posts have been like that XP)

(Oh my god I'm sooo sorry about the lateness of this, ahh things have popped up recently but that doesn't excuse me)

Hitomi contemplated the question for a moment. She wasn't a particularly sporty person but she'd been to Alculard long enough to know the out-of-class clubs they had to offer and such. " Well the school is full of facilities. We have a dojo for martial arts and things like that. They have fighting clubs I think, you'd have to speak to Akira and Kailyn sensei to ask about them. Hmm, what else?" She asked herself whilst she bit her lip and looked to the sky, as she continued to think and remember.

Her olive eyes looked back towards Tosh "And we also have and indoor swimming pool, and a gym. As well as a sports hall in which lessons take place. And the last sporty club I can think of is the soccer club. For that you need to talk to Asuko and Koichi sensei. I'm sure you'll learn who's who when it comes to teachers soon enough." Smiling reasuringly she hoped she'd not forgotten anything, and she also hoped the schools sporty-ness satisfied Toshi.

Before Toshi had the chance to reply Hitomi asked "Right so what's the plan of attack when we get to the academy?" Again she smiled cheerfully as she sorta skipped the next few steps when they walked past of couple of shops.

Toshi pouted her lips and glanced up as she thought; it was just a habit she had fallen into, she wasn't even aware she did it. That look had been the cause of more than one fight though, either because they thought she was being flirty or because they thought she looked girly, and therefore weak. She still hadn't figured that out, though.

"I have no idea," she answered finally with a grin as Hitomi skipped. It was so cute. "I guess first things first is to go to the Day Class dorms and drop off my stuff. And considering I've been traveling all night, I should probably take a shower too." She made a face, somewhere along the lines of I know it's necessary, but what a bother.

"Are you allowed in the Day Class dorms? I think it'd be kinda weird to separate the classes that extremely," she remarked, toting her suitcase with ease as she walked. Honestly, she had almost forgotten it was there.

((it's fine, RL comes first, hehe. Sorry this is so short.))

Looking at her pout her lips made Hitomi almost stop, they really were full lips, giving Toshi a feminine charm. She giggled a little at Toshi's remark. Funny she should say that, considering that the dorms are very much seperated.... but Tosh wasn't a proper signed-in student. And Hitomi's only helping her out.

She smiled mischeviously at what she was about to say "Well technically, yes. They are that extreme, but you arn't an official student. You havn't started lessons yet. I'd only be helping welcome you to the school and showing you around. You'd get lost otherwise. See what I mean." She hoped Tosh understood that they were her excuses if she were to get caught.

(Sorry mines so short too, and so late, my internets being a bugger right now)

Toshi grinned back, laughing a little. She played that game often enough to get where she was going.

"Got it," she replied, thoroughly amused. Although she had never pegged Mimi as a good girl, seeing her mischievous streak was rather fun.

"But, that's pretty crazy that they go so far. I mean, are the Day and Night students really that different? If they want separation so badly, why don't they just build another school?" she complained. "I mean, if this keeps up how am I ever gonna see you again?" She shook her head at the injustice of it all, although she was obviously playing it up a bit for fun. Still though, she meant it about how disappointed she'd be if she couldn't see Mimi more often. She'd had allies before, sure. She'd had a few fans at her old town too, mostly female. But she'd never had an easy friend like Hitomi before, and the thought of it ending so quickly was slightly depressing.

"And it's a good motto to have," Toshi replied, grinning. On the inside though, she was laughing bitterly. One person's motto is another's lifeline, eh?

Before she got all irritated with her life, and therefore irritated at herself for sulking, she decided it was time to think of something else to say.

"So, got any hobbies? Or an unusual talent maybe?" she asked, looking towards the girl with an easy expression. She wished she were taller, it was a little irritating how close they were in height. Toshi was probably only an inch or two taller than her, and she guessed Hitomi was younger. She knew the middle school and the high school were connected, so she had no idea how old she could be. Probably 14 or 15.

"For instance, I can hold my breath for over seven minutes," she announced, grinning with mock pride. Not that she had ever tried to hold her breath underwater, but it couldn't be that different. She had practiced holding her breath a lot after she had first fallen through the ice, so she would be prepared if it ever happened again. That really was the best policy in her opinion. Instead of trembling in fear, she made herself ready. Just like with everything else that's ever happened in her life. The answer always was get stronger, learn, prepare.

(Thanks for letting me join you! ^_^)

Nemo winced, picking pieces of asphalt out of his palm as he continued walking. There was a very slight limp to his gait, more evidence of his clumsiness. Funny how everyone always assumes cats land on their feet. More often than not, I end up on my knees. He sighed and shuddered, feeling a bit of blood trickle down from his left knee.

How he'd come to be on this dark stretch of road near an unfamiliar beach might seem like a funny story to an outsider. His case worker always insisted on sending someone with him whenever he transferred schools. Usually, he didn't mind, but the woman who'd been sent with him this time... He was flushed, his ears still twitching from time to time from her touch. Seemed like, no matter how many times he'd told the lady to stop touching him, she couldn't keep her hand off his ears. As soon as the bus driver had announced his stop, he'd taken off running.

Which was how he'd skinned his knee. He hissed softly in pain as another stinging breeze brushed his torn-up hiphuggers against his raw skin. Digging his nails into his palms, he glanced up in time to see a couple of girls ahead of him. He quickly shoved his hands into his hoodie pockets, intending on walking around them.

Then he noticed something weird. Besides their oddly-dyed hair, that is. He glanced at the pink-haired one, the hair on the back of his neck standing on end. Not normal... Before he knew what he was doing, he was standing next to her. "Hi."

Damn his curiosity. It'd gotten him in trouble more times than he could count. And this time, he just knew, he'd walked right up to someone who'd be merciless about his ears. His tail twitched slightly, but his ears perked up, his mind unable to keep the curiosity from registering in his actions. "Uh..."

He blushed, knowing he should say something, that it would be weird for a stranger to just walk up like that. "Could either of you tell me where to find Alculard Academy?" Okay, that's safe, right? Random people walk up to ask for directions all the time, don't they? Nemo silently seethed at the fact that he felt so awkward. Why should he feel awkward? He had a legitimate reason to talk to them, right?

Toshi's feet immediately slid apart in a fighting stance by instinct when a boy suddenly came up to them. Up to Hitomi to be more precise, which she did not like at all. She noticed right away the neko headband and tail though, and had to give him back a few points for those. They were pretty cool.

He seemed nervous, obviously looking awkward. When he asked for directions to the Academy however, she lowered his threat level slightly.

"We're on our way there, actually," she told him with a smile, nodding her head at the neon pink suitcase she toted. She really loved that thing. She had spent two hours scribbling all the graffiti all over it in Sharpie when she was 15, and had sworn to never throw it out.

"You new too? Wanna come with us?" she asked him happily. Holding out her hand for him to shake, she said, "I'm Toshi. Dig the ears." This was such a better way to start out a new school year than last time!

She expertly slid herself closer to Hitomi as she held out her hand. Not enough to block his gaze of her or anything, but if he suddenly decided attacking them would be a good idea, Toshi was going to be there to kick his ass before he laid a single finger on the smaller girl next to her. She hoped that hadn’t bothered Hitomi, if she noticed at all.

He could swear his face must be beet red right now, after the comment about his ears. Clueless as every other girl... "A-ah, really?" His tail flicked happily, and he smiled cheerfully. "That would be great!"

He flinched, suddenly realizing he'd been rude, and turned to the pink-haired one again. "Unless you're not okay with it?" At that moment, Toshi's stance finally registered in his mind, and his head tilted a bit to look at her sideways. "You're a fighter? That's cool. My best friend was in Kendo." He used to tease me all the time about how clumsy I am...no need to tell her I haven't spoken to him since I was twelve.

"Ah! How rude of me!" He blushed again, realizing she had introduced herself to him. "I'm Nemo. Nemo Hajiri, soon to be a high school senior in the Night Class." He gave a cat-like smirk and held out his hand, then winced, seeing a few spots of blood that had welled up in his palm from earlier. "Ehn...nevermind the handshake, then..." He let his hand drop to his side, glancing at the other girl. "What's your name?"

{Gotta love his attention span. *is laughing at how random his thoughts/words/actions seem* It's like a cat seeing two spots of dust, not sure which one to watch, keeps flicking his head between the two XD}

Hitomi had been in a bubble for a moment, thinking about what college courses she might take. She wasn't sure what made her think about it but it was something she was really worried about. Although she had no reason to be. Tossing that thought aside, she tried to think positively, or at least about something more positive. For a moment she thought about that new band she'd been told about, just before a strange boy approached them. He had a pair of ears and a tail to match. It was strange for a shifter to be so open about it in public, she understood shifters showing their ears at Alculard but he was a new student as well, so he either had them out all the time, or had popped them out ready. It puzzled her, neither seemed plausible reasons.

She soon realized that Toshi was taking a very protective stance over Hitomi. She really wasn't used to people looking out for her, never mind trying to protect her. Again she was reminded of how nice Tosh was. The boy Toshi seemed to be so wary of seemed to be quite nervous. He had blood on his hands, she noticed as he placed it towards them for a handshake. He'd only just seemed to notice it himself, as though it wasn't uncommon occurrence. Hitomi wondered if he got hurt a lot. As he pulled his hand back it seemed as though he was almost ashamed of it. Well that was Hitomi's assumption.

He asked Hitomi for her name as she looked back in his direction. He was a little shorter than herself, only by about an inch at the most, all three of them seemed to be on the very short side, only just reaching above five foot. He was also in the same year as herself, meaning he'd probably be in the same class. Smiling she spoke rather boldly as she said " Oh, hello. Sorry I've been so quiet. It's not like me at all." she started tilting her head to the side slightly as she had a proper look at the boy. "My names Hitomi thanks for asking. Nemo's a lovely name, it's not Japanese, right?... Well as far as I know it isn't."

Again his ears attracted her attention, she raised her hand and touched only the tip before she whipped her hand back to her side, realizing that he probably didn't like it if some stranger were to just touch his ears. " Oh, I'm so sorry, that was very rude of me. It just intrigued me that you had them out in public. See I'm a night student too, I'm in the same year as you as well, so we may even end up in the same class." Smiling even more brightly but with a sincere and apologetic look in her eyes. She was curious, very very curious as always.

She felt a bit rude for not answering Toshi's question about hobbies, but the moment had passed and apart from the violin, which she despised, there were no real hobbies to speak of. Apart from alchemy and tarot card reading but they're both rather weird hobbies.

(Sorry that me and Ally weren't on yesturday, our internet was down, it's been playing up recently and we've finally got it fixed and sorted today ^_^, I was wondering, should we move this over to the wet walkways? Or should we leave it? I'm not fussed either way.... that was quite a long post, hehe sorry about that.)

Nemo had just been getting rid of the redness in his cheeks when Hitomi touched his ears, making him turn about as red as he could get as he shuddered from the awkward tingle that shot down his spine from the light touch. "Ehehn...very rude, please don't do tha~t." He shivered again, his ear twitching as though just that one part of his anatomy were having a seizure, his other ear laying back. Hell, it would've been better if you'd grabbed the damn thing. At least that doesn't feel so weird.

Regaining control over his body, he shook the lingering feeling from his limbs and laid both ears back, his tail now plastered to his leg. "Yeah, I dunno what my name means. I think Mom just liked the sound of it." He shrugged and smiled awkwardly. "I don't really have much choice about the ears." He blushed and looked down at the ground, not wanting to face the embarassing story that explained his awkward state.

{Long posts are good. Better than this short one... ^_^ It'd be a bit awkward to just randomly move the thread now. Maybe once they start walking again?

Also, I can't keep from giggling at his reaction to that. XD I think I prefer rping as Nemo, after all, lol.}

Toshi blinked for a moment.

Did his ears just... move? she thought to herself as he blabbed on about his name origin or something. He had defiantly reacted when Hitomi had touched them, and what the hell did she mean about having them out now? No choice?

Toshi was getting confused, and when she got confused, she got irritated. It seemed like Hitomi and Nemo were both in on something that she didn't know, but she didn't see how that could be possible considering they had just met. He said he was a Night Class student, hadn't he? Hitomi seemed perfectly normal, but she supposed that might not mean anything. But then again, it might.

"I don't like fighting with rules," she muttered in response to the Kendo comment, looking annoyed.

"And you could just take them off if you don't like them," she added a bit more kindly, glancing their way as she looked for a reaction. Toshi was not a stupid girl; she knew something was off. Neko headbands don't move. Maybe it was a mutation or something? She had heard of snakes with two heads and stuff, it might be possible for humans to get cat ears. She had a very open mind. Her father had taught her a very long time ago that anything was possible.

(I'm fine with whatever too. Stay or go, it's all good with me)

"I would, believe me. But I'm not exactly human enough to take 'em off." He looked Toshi in the eye, using a trick he'd picked up from trying to get rid of the ears to change the shape of his pupils from the human circles to a cat's slitted pupils. "In fact, I'm not human at all."

He knew he was taking a chance with it, letting her know that much about him, but he really didn't feel like getting all the Neko comments at this school. He had one shot to have a normal life, and he wasn't about to waste it by pretending to like his ears. "I'm a shapeshifter, melanistic jaguar in my animal form. Got stuck with these stupid ears a few years back. It's a touchy subject." He sighed and ran his hand carefully through his ear, revealing that the cat ears were in fact his only ears, and quite firmly attached to his skull, at that.

"With or without rules, I'm too clumsy to fight in my human form, so you can stop acting like I'm gonna start throwing punches any time now." He winked at her, his tone playful, trying to lighten the mood a bit.

Toshi's eyes went wide when she found herself looking into eyes that weren't human.

That was unexpected.

As he talked, she became increasingly proud of herself. She hadn't passed out or punched in the face. That was pretty impressive by her standards. Here was a guy, telling her he was a shapeshifter - a jaguar, to be exact - and she wasn't getting violent. She was perfectly calm, staring at him with perhaps a bit of a perplexed expression. Maybe he was a robotics guy or something. That would explain how they moved...

Nope. When he moved his hair the only tentative string she held towards common logic snapped. Those were honest to goodness cat ears.

"With or without rules, I'm too clumsy to fight in my human form, so you can stop acting like I'm gonna start throwing punches any time now," he told her, winking.

She stared at him for a fraction of a second, debating if she really should just punch the overgrown house cat-

And then, she realized she believed every word. That was just too much, and the teen cracked up laughing.

"I swear I'm not laughing at the ears!" she assured him, putting her hands up to her face to cover her smile while she laughed. She could tell he was sensitive about it. "It's just... how the hell have I gone 16 years not knowing about this type of shit?!" She was laughing at herself more than anything. Laughing for believing, laughing for ever doubting, laughing because she never expected this to be her first day.

She patted Nemo on the shoulder, still grinning.

"You may not want to go around advertising that," she told him simply, shaking her head. Letting her hand slide off, she turned to Mimi with a raised eyebrow. She had known right away what he was, hadn't she?

"And are you gonna tell me your a wolf now?" she asked the smaller girl. "Is that what the Night Class is? A class for shapeshifters?" Her surprise had completely worn off by now, she was already accepting of it. Hey, everyone was different after all. As long as he didn't start turning into a lion and eating people, it didn't bother her.

Hitomi giggled a little at the 16 years comment. Well it was all very well hidden, the secret lives of the night class. "Well no. But it would be cool if I was a shifter but alas... I have something much worse... well, in my eyes. I hate what I can do... With a vengeance." A serious look of disdain crossed her face as she thought about her eyes and what they did. She was surprised Nemo was telling a day class student all this. Hitomi wasn't even sure if they were supposed to know. Though she was glad Toshi knew now. It would mean less secrets and such, and the reactions were something new. Also how else was he supposed to explain the ears apart from the plain truth.

Hitomi was confused as to how he didn't have a choice about having his ears, he said himself he was a shifter. But after seeing his reaction to her touch, she didn't want to press the matter. If he had no choice then it must have surely caused some problems in the past. She tossed the questions that kept popping into her mind aside. Thinking about the clumsy comment, she guessed that was how he got the cut. She noticed something Tosh had said that had surprised her "... Hang on. Toshi, your only 16. Well that surprised me, I thought you'd be older than me." She shrugged her shoulders in a nonchalant kind of way, glad to discover more.

[ahh wait up for me *runs trying to catch up*, I know I'm super slow, I appologise *needs to be on more and promises I will* and also sorry this is so short, we'll stay here for now then, less hassle changing character paths etc.]

Nemo blinked a few times, his eyes returning to normal. Then, he too started laughing, his tail flicking about, ears perked up. "Just put it this way: If it's in a fairie tale, chances are it's in the Night Class, too. That goes for boogiemen and vampires as well." The boogieman bit was a joke, and he hoped she wouldn't take him completely seriously on it.

Coughing, he slowly managed to stop laughing and beamed at the two girls. Over their laughter, he hadn't quite caught what Hitomi said. "Seriously though, from what my mom told me, there's all sorts of people in the Night Class, and most of the Day Class students have no bloody clue they're sharing the campus with vampires, shifters and demons. Speaking of which...Hitomi, how're you in the Night Class? You give off a totally human vibe. Well..."

His ears flicked, remembering the strange feeling that had gotten him curious about her to begin with. "Almost human. There's something a bit more there, but I can't quite put my thumb on it. Is it just that you have a gene mutation or something?" He was probably being slightly rude, but, Hell, he'd already told them exactly what he was, so asking for a detail or two couldn't hurt. I hope...

{*giggles* No worries. We just happened to be online at the same time is all. Hey, that rhymed.}

"So...sorta like Wicca, but you have a natural talent for it?" One of his foster families had been Wiccan, so he'd heard of magicks like that before. He'd actually liked that family. He smiled openly. "That's cool. Guess it comes with a backlash, though. Most gifts do..." He sighed, pulling his tail in front of him so he could pick some of the dirt out of his fur.

Glancing at Toshi, he smirked. "Outta the three of us, you have the best talent. You can be a normal human. Even if it's great to be an individual, it's a real pain to be the sore thumb sticking out." He grinned impishly at the two of them. "Though, it looks like I'm the only one who feels that way. You two have wacky hair."

He made a playful little duck as though Toshi was going to hit him for that, but tripped over his own feet and fell on his butt. "Aia..." He hissed softly in irritation, blushing furiously as he picked himself up and wiped off the seat of his pants. "See what I mean? Clumsy. Hard to believe I'm a cat at all..."

Toshi jumped a little when Nemo suddenly took a spill. He seemed to be used to it though, because he’d already picked himself up before she could even extend her hand to help him.

"Nah, what are you talking about Nemo-san? You guys must think I'm the most boring thing in the world!" she said with a laugh. Living in a world like that, how could she possibly top that? Humans were so mundane.

"I mean... your gift is amazing, Mimi," she told her in astonishment. She noticed Hitomi was looking sad, so she quickly leaned over and kissed the top of her head, tussling her hair slightly to try and cheer her up. She had not expected to be younger than her, but that didn't mean she had to treat her any differently. "I know you said you didn't like it but... I think that's pretty incredible to have something special." She shook her head at them both. It was fair to say she was impressed.

"Both of you, actually, a little clumsy or not," she amended, looking over at Nemo again. She smiled, feeling both excited and privileged that she could meet and spend time with people like them. That she could know about them.

"In not even 10 minutes my outlook on the world has extended by like a million!" she cried happily. She hated her own ignorance, truly. She hoped they could hear the thank you in her tone for helping to reduce that just a bit.

(phew, sorry about that!)

"Yeah, one of my families was Wiccan, and I stayed with them for almost a year, so I learned quite a bit about the religion. Really nice people." He laughed, watching the two girls. Goddess, it feels nice to have friends. Gotta remember their names, though. Blue and purple is Toshi-chan. Pinky is Hitomi-chan.

He blushed when she called his clumsiness cute and looked away. "More troublesome than cute, really..." For the first time that day, though not the first time that week, he thought about his mom. Wonder how she's holding up? I'll write a letter once we get to the school. The thought made him smile to himself. Even when they wouldn't let him in to see her, he could always write his mom to tell her how he was. More often than not, they even let her write back to tell him how horrible the food was.

He snorted a soft laugh, remembering the one letter she'd devoted entirely to the horrible food they served her. He'd have to re-read that one. It always made him smile.

Toshi shrugged. She wasn't really into religion. Any Gods that were up there have certainly never been there for her, so she sure as hell wasn't gonna devote herself to a lazy deity. Anything in her life that she's accomplished, she's done it herself.

"I researched Wicca a bit. Seemed interesting enough. Just as interesting as any other religion I suppose," she commented, feeling very out of place. Not that she had a problem with religion or anything, she just didn't really feel like she fit into the conversation all the sudden.

Actually, she was rather out of place in general. Human, versus to gifted people. Once they got to school, she would be alone again, while they could go and happily skip off to their Class of Awesomeness. Damn, she wished she had a power or something. Then, she realized she was complaining and quickly shook it off. She was used to being alone. Even if they weren't in the same class, she had never had gentle friends like this before. She was just happy with that.

“When I was studying for the scholarship test, I had a Wiccan tutor. He was nice,” she added, suddenly remembering. By “tutor,” she meant guy who found her passed out in an alley once with all her books ruined and offered to buy her new ones, but whatever. It had helped her academic standing none the less.

"Ah!? You passed the scholarship test for Alculard?!" Nemo pouted at her, the expression oddly adorable. "I just missed getting that one. I'm just lucky there're scholarships not tied to specific schools, or I would've had to drop out."

He glanced at Hitomi, frowning. "Wait, tarot? Can't that get a bit...I dunno, dangerous? They were always talking about doors that needed to be closed and such every time I got curious about those things...well, them and spirit boards. They told me those can get downright nasty." He himself didn't really care about the religion thing, but he had made a conscious effort to learn about it so he could make one of his favorite families happy. He'd even gotten into the habit of saying "Goddess" instead of "God."

Speaking of his families, he was pleasantly surprised that neither of his new friends seemed to have picked up on his comment about having multiple families. Either that, or they had noticed, but chosen not to pry, which would be even better for him.