The gentle seeming American boy slowly cringed at Percy's description of what happened that day, appearing to be quite empathetic to what had happened. Duncan even looked the others over, seemingly curious as to whether or not they had bruises or other marks from the rough ordeal, Hisoka in particular. He nodded when it was pointed out that yesterday was far from normal though, quite understanding of the situation. The rather frail looking boy looked at his store bought bento again. "Eh, please don't overreact, but I wasn't very hungry to begin with in all honesty." He gently spoke, taking Hana's lead and putting it away. Duncan did notice however, that Miyuki seemed particularly embarrassed about the prior day's incident. He noted that and squirreled it away for later.
'If this is all fitting together right, then these people were some of, if not the first ones on the scene. I suppose I'll try spying on them...the girls first of course.' He inwardly smiled, perversely. 'Best to have a warm up run with the stealth spells, and observe the softer targets first from a distance.'
[Episode Zero] School Daze
Re: [Episode Zero] School Daze
"I am not sure what they are saying, but something tells me it would be satifying to peck at that boy's eyes," Laoise thought to herself as she looked at Duncan. Birds have a knack for sensing a person's true intentions, and the Irish dove had a feeling that this boy's intentions did not match up with his body language or his tone of voice. She gave a few more leisurely chirps as she once again grew bored and wondered where to go next.
"The breeze on the roof is always nice at this time. Maybe I'll head up there and heckle the sparrows. With that Laoise spread her wings and dove out of the tree, purposefully flying close enough to Duncan's head to accidentally hit his head with the tip of her wing.
"The breeze on the roof is always nice at this time. Maybe I'll head up there and heckle the sparrows. With that Laoise spread her wings and dove out of the tree, purposefully flying close enough to Duncan's head to accidentally hit his head with the tip of her wing.
Re: [Episode Zero] School Daze
Just as expected, the bell rang soon after. Students from all over began buzzing about, hurrying to pack up and getting on with their days, heading to classes and whatnot. The rest of the day passed comfortably, and unlike the previous day, nothing interrupted them or caused any trouble, aside from a few minor injuries in the Kendo classes caused by an overzealous instructor. Overall, it had been very successful, and all of the students seemed to be in a mostly good mood at the end of the day, going home feeling better about the school and the time they would no doubt be spending there in the years to come.
DAY 2 END
DAY 2 END
Re: [Episode Zero] School Daze
Day three passes by without much incident.
DAY FOUR, BEGIN!
It was the fourth day of school. The prior two days had gone fairly well, and after the events of the first day, the Academy was finally beginning to have a sense of normalcy. For many of the students, the Academy was just that- an Academy, and it would be nothing more for the rest of their school careers. For a few others, however, this sense of normalcy would only exist for a few more days. And while none knew it, most would come to cherish the memories of these few days of simply being students.
Kagami Miyuki sat at the bus stop in front of the school, awaiting the arrival of her friends Hisoka and Hana, whom actually took the bus, unlike Miyuki, whom was driven there early by her brother, as he didn't live too far away from her house, and had his own transportation. While being the little sister of the School's headmaster had its perks, sitting alone at the bus stop every morning certainly wasn't one of them.
Miyuki drank thoughtlessly from a bottle of orange-flavored energy drink known as 'Morning Rescue', a beverage she had been seeing on television a lot lately, and had decided to try. While it did appear to give her some more energy, it did nothing to stave off the boredom she currently felt.
Duncan was still getting the hang of this. Believe it or not, pretending to be an ill, borderline disabled kid was harder than it looked. He had to put curses on himself that drained his energy so that all movements and whatnot were genuine. There were several appearance spells that had to be layered like makeup in order to ensure the proper looks, too. 'I guess this is why my little sister takes so long each morning.' he snidely thought to himself.
Even though he hated this role he had forced onto himself, it was starting to grow on him. It had its perks after all...didn't it? That, of course, was debatable at this point. Right now, he was figuring out just how a kid who had chronic insomnia combined with diabetes would get to school. Taking his bike was not an option, he was 'unfit' after all, and his parents were still back in the U.S. of A. so that was out too. That left walking, and public transportation; the latter sounded the laziest, so that had to be the best way in.
Miyuki sat and watched as the first bus of the day rolled in. Reading the placard on the side, she noticed that it was one of the closer buses, and by the numbers, figured that Hana and Hisoka wouldn't be for another bus or three. Bored, the Japanese girl watched as students filed out of the bus.
As the American exchange student came out of the bus, a certain someone caught his eye. He violently forced down laughter at the sight of Miyuki drinking Morning Rescue; having the advertisements so prominently displayed during one of his favorite shows in Japan had given him a strong impression. Still, he managed to make his cackles sound like ragged coughs as he half stumbled down the off ramp before looking up again. "Hello Miyuki. You take this bus too?" He asked, weary.
"I get driven. You're actually on the first bus here, Leetenbaum-san," Miyuki informed Duncan as he began speaking to her. "Today my brother had some early business to attend to, so I'm here even earlier than usual." she added, still looking somewhat bored, and taking sips from her drink. "Do you have trouble getting up in time for the bus, leetenbaum-san?" the girl asked, thinking she might be able to be amused by it. The boy's cough was quite a bad one, but he seemed to be used to it, or at least he could shake it off rather well, and since she had seen him cough many times during the past two days, she wasn't exactly worried about it. I'm sure Nurse Watanabe is caring for him best she can... she thought to herself.
The boy seemed to bristle slightly as she called him by his last name. 'Damn, I always forget they go by last name first. Don't know if this is cute or annoying...' he thought to himself. "I see." he replied to her. "I don't have trouble at all getting up on time for the bus. I usually only get a few hours of sleep in anyways, and am up by around...two? Three maybe?" He answered quizzically, half questioning his own statement. Still, Duncan went on, seemingly embarrassed as his cheeks flushed. "Um, I"m sorry, but I keep on forgetting to call people by last name here in Japan, Kagami-san." By now, Duncan had made up his mind. 'If it's coming from a girl, it's cute. If it's coming from a guy, hell no.'
Miyuki smiled at Duncan "Do not worry, Leetenbaum-San. Most people who come here from other countries forget, and I do not mind." She paused for a moment, thinking about what he had said about his sleeping habits, and they seemed rather worrisome. "Are you still suffering from jet-lag, or is it something else?" the jet-haired girl asked, taking another drink. She felt like rummaging through her bag for something to snack on, but that would probably be rude at the moment. Though, asking him such personal questions was rude as well. Miyuki paused to think about it once more, and decided that she'd keep the rudeness to questions only. From what Hisoka had said, Americans didn't notice, anyway.
Duncan moved at his slowly meted pace to sit by Miyuki, making sure there was just enough distance that she wouldn't find it strange. That was another thing he wasn't so sure about. What of personal space in Japan? 'Knowing them, they're probably all uptight about it too. He scratched his chin, as though in thought of her question, which in fact, he was. This was going to be one of the first challenges in maintaining the masquerade; how well and convincingly he was able to describe it all would affect his cover from here on out. "Oh, it's nothing very serious. I have some sort of sleeping disorder, so I don't get that many hours in; it's been with me ever since I was...about nine or so I think." He looked away, wistfully, before adding on, "But at least I get to watch all the good shows you guys have here. Beats the stuff out of our Saturday morning cartoons anyday."
"You still watch cartoons, Leetenbaum-san?" Miyuki asked rhetorically, giggling a little bit into her drink. "I think takahashi-Kun broke us of that habit in favor of more beneficial activities years ago." She recalled, knowing how the overly practical Hisoka had indeed managed to impact hers and Hana's lives a bit, whether or not they would ever admit it to his face. Still, for someone like Duncan, he was probably less able to do things like run around the park or walk around the shopping districts, what with his infirmities. "Do you also do your homework at those times as well? I heard that your grades were nearly as high as Takahashi-kun and Rai-hime's, and they are without a doubt the smartest students at the Academy."
"Um, well..." Duncan found himself in a bit of a pickle; when it came to homework, yes, he did it like normal people did, but there was also something else afoot as well. 'I think I may be able to tie it into the insomnia diagnosis, and it is technically true... He decided to embarrass himself for the hell of it. "I still do watch anime and read manga, but sometimes I end up putting my homework aside so I don't miss a show and...um." The American shifted about uncomfortably in his seat next to Miyuki, a blush both fake and real coming up to his face. "I sometimes...sometimes...I do my homework when I'm sleepwalking." The words hung in the air for a few odd seconds as they both sat there, the words sinking in.
The human mind was something special to be honest. Even Duncan had to admit that. The subconscious mind often solved problems when a person was asleep, and truth be told, he wasn't lying to Miyuki. This time; more often than not, Duncan had fallen asleep at the work table, only to wake up with the completed spell written down; his own sister recorded this 'terrifying' event to show him. Inside, Duncan smiled at himself. Who said he needed to lie all the time to everyone?
Miyuki stopped mid-sip, and nearly poured her drink over her front, but managed to catch herself in the act, and she slowly lowered the bottle to her lap. "Is that so?" she muttered, somewhat intrigued. "Maybe if you actually remained awake or paid attention to your homework, you could surpass Rai-Hime and Takahashi-kun, Leetenbaum-san." If what you're saying is true, anyway... she thought, as it was hard to suspend disbelief at a statement such as that. By now, the second bus had arrived, and students were beginning to file off of it, a couple waving to or otherwise greeting the two sitting on the bench.
'My god. She actually believes me. Duncan thought. ' It took a doctor sitting in and watching me sleep for my own family to believe this. Maybe...maybe Japan is a better place in some ways after all. Duncan sniffed back a genuine tear at that and rubbed his eye, but then decided to go full out. 'It'll be fun! he thought; there were spells for everything. Cooking and cleaning, killing things...and crying. Duncan had started to shed tears and futilely wipe them away, speaking in between the sniffles and the rubbing off his now wet hands. "Truth is...I...I get better scores when it's done in my sleep! I'm...I'm not tired when I'm sleeping!"
At that, Duncan burst into a small river of tears stimulated by a minor spell, eager to see the look on her face.
DAY FOUR, BEGIN!
It was the fourth day of school. The prior two days had gone fairly well, and after the events of the first day, the Academy was finally beginning to have a sense of normalcy. For many of the students, the Academy was just that- an Academy, and it would be nothing more for the rest of their school careers. For a few others, however, this sense of normalcy would only exist for a few more days. And while none knew it, most would come to cherish the memories of these few days of simply being students.
Kagami Miyuki sat at the bus stop in front of the school, awaiting the arrival of her friends Hisoka and Hana, whom actually took the bus, unlike Miyuki, whom was driven there early by her brother, as he didn't live too far away from her house, and had his own transportation. While being the little sister of the School's headmaster had its perks, sitting alone at the bus stop every morning certainly wasn't one of them.
Miyuki drank thoughtlessly from a bottle of orange-flavored energy drink known as 'Morning Rescue', a beverage she had been seeing on television a lot lately, and had decided to try. While it did appear to give her some more energy, it did nothing to stave off the boredom she currently felt.
Duncan was still getting the hang of this. Believe it or not, pretending to be an ill, borderline disabled kid was harder than it looked. He had to put curses on himself that drained his energy so that all movements and whatnot were genuine. There were several appearance spells that had to be layered like makeup in order to ensure the proper looks, too. 'I guess this is why my little sister takes so long each morning.' he snidely thought to himself.
Even though he hated this role he had forced onto himself, it was starting to grow on him. It had its perks after all...didn't it? That, of course, was debatable at this point. Right now, he was figuring out just how a kid who had chronic insomnia combined with diabetes would get to school. Taking his bike was not an option, he was 'unfit' after all, and his parents were still back in the U.S. of A. so that was out too. That left walking, and public transportation; the latter sounded the laziest, so that had to be the best way in.
Miyuki sat and watched as the first bus of the day rolled in. Reading the placard on the side, she noticed that it was one of the closer buses, and by the numbers, figured that Hana and Hisoka wouldn't be for another bus or three. Bored, the Japanese girl watched as students filed out of the bus.
As the American exchange student came out of the bus, a certain someone caught his eye. He violently forced down laughter at the sight of Miyuki drinking Morning Rescue; having the advertisements so prominently displayed during one of his favorite shows in Japan had given him a strong impression. Still, he managed to make his cackles sound like ragged coughs as he half stumbled down the off ramp before looking up again. "Hello Miyuki. You take this bus too?" He asked, weary.
"I get driven. You're actually on the first bus here, Leetenbaum-san," Miyuki informed Duncan as he began speaking to her. "Today my brother had some early business to attend to, so I'm here even earlier than usual." she added, still looking somewhat bored, and taking sips from her drink. "Do you have trouble getting up in time for the bus, leetenbaum-san?" the girl asked, thinking she might be able to be amused by it. The boy's cough was quite a bad one, but he seemed to be used to it, or at least he could shake it off rather well, and since she had seen him cough many times during the past two days, she wasn't exactly worried about it. I'm sure Nurse Watanabe is caring for him best she can... she thought to herself.
The boy seemed to bristle slightly as she called him by his last name. 'Damn, I always forget they go by last name first. Don't know if this is cute or annoying...' he thought to himself. "I see." he replied to her. "I don't have trouble at all getting up on time for the bus. I usually only get a few hours of sleep in anyways, and am up by around...two? Three maybe?" He answered quizzically, half questioning his own statement. Still, Duncan went on, seemingly embarrassed as his cheeks flushed. "Um, I"m sorry, but I keep on forgetting to call people by last name here in Japan, Kagami-san." By now, Duncan had made up his mind. 'If it's coming from a girl, it's cute. If it's coming from a guy, hell no.'
Miyuki smiled at Duncan "Do not worry, Leetenbaum-San. Most people who come here from other countries forget, and I do not mind." She paused for a moment, thinking about what he had said about his sleeping habits, and they seemed rather worrisome. "Are you still suffering from jet-lag, or is it something else?" the jet-haired girl asked, taking another drink. She felt like rummaging through her bag for something to snack on, but that would probably be rude at the moment. Though, asking him such personal questions was rude as well. Miyuki paused to think about it once more, and decided that she'd keep the rudeness to questions only. From what Hisoka had said, Americans didn't notice, anyway.
Duncan moved at his slowly meted pace to sit by Miyuki, making sure there was just enough distance that she wouldn't find it strange. That was another thing he wasn't so sure about. What of personal space in Japan? 'Knowing them, they're probably all uptight about it too. He scratched his chin, as though in thought of her question, which in fact, he was. This was going to be one of the first challenges in maintaining the masquerade; how well and convincingly he was able to describe it all would affect his cover from here on out. "Oh, it's nothing very serious. I have some sort of sleeping disorder, so I don't get that many hours in; it's been with me ever since I was...about nine or so I think." He looked away, wistfully, before adding on, "But at least I get to watch all the good shows you guys have here. Beats the stuff out of our Saturday morning cartoons anyday."
"You still watch cartoons, Leetenbaum-san?" Miyuki asked rhetorically, giggling a little bit into her drink. "I think takahashi-Kun broke us of that habit in favor of more beneficial activities years ago." She recalled, knowing how the overly practical Hisoka had indeed managed to impact hers and Hana's lives a bit, whether or not they would ever admit it to his face. Still, for someone like Duncan, he was probably less able to do things like run around the park or walk around the shopping districts, what with his infirmities. "Do you also do your homework at those times as well? I heard that your grades were nearly as high as Takahashi-kun and Rai-hime's, and they are without a doubt the smartest students at the Academy."
"Um, well..." Duncan found himself in a bit of a pickle; when it came to homework, yes, he did it like normal people did, but there was also something else afoot as well. 'I think I may be able to tie it into the insomnia diagnosis, and it is technically true... He decided to embarrass himself for the hell of it. "I still do watch anime and read manga, but sometimes I end up putting my homework aside so I don't miss a show and...um." The American shifted about uncomfortably in his seat next to Miyuki, a blush both fake and real coming up to his face. "I sometimes...sometimes...I do my homework when I'm sleepwalking." The words hung in the air for a few odd seconds as they both sat there, the words sinking in.
The human mind was something special to be honest. Even Duncan had to admit that. The subconscious mind often solved problems when a person was asleep, and truth be told, he wasn't lying to Miyuki. This time; more often than not, Duncan had fallen asleep at the work table, only to wake up with the completed spell written down; his own sister recorded this 'terrifying' event to show him. Inside, Duncan smiled at himself. Who said he needed to lie all the time to everyone?
Miyuki stopped mid-sip, and nearly poured her drink over her front, but managed to catch herself in the act, and she slowly lowered the bottle to her lap. "Is that so?" she muttered, somewhat intrigued. "Maybe if you actually remained awake or paid attention to your homework, you could surpass Rai-Hime and Takahashi-kun, Leetenbaum-san." If what you're saying is true, anyway... she thought, as it was hard to suspend disbelief at a statement such as that. By now, the second bus had arrived, and students were beginning to file off of it, a couple waving to or otherwise greeting the two sitting on the bench.
'My god. She actually believes me. Duncan thought. ' It took a doctor sitting in and watching me sleep for my own family to believe this. Maybe...maybe Japan is a better place in some ways after all. Duncan sniffed back a genuine tear at that and rubbed his eye, but then decided to go full out. 'It'll be fun! he thought; there were spells for everything. Cooking and cleaning, killing things...and crying. Duncan had started to shed tears and futilely wipe them away, speaking in between the sniffles and the rubbing off his now wet hands. "Truth is...I...I get better scores when it's done in my sleep! I'm...I'm not tired when I'm sleeping!"
At that, Duncan burst into a small river of tears stimulated by a minor spell, eager to see the look on her face.
Re: [Episode Zero] School Daze
Duncan would recognize Miyuki's next expression. It was that slightly exasperated, embarrassed expression usually accompanied in Anime by a large sweatdrop. Miyuki tried to smile encouragingly and cheer Duncan up. "It is alright, Leetenbaum-san. Everyone does strange things," she consoled, putting the cap onto her drink. "Do not get too worked up over it, I'm sure you'll do fine in the school."
Miyuki looked away for a moment, and surveyed the bus, thinking of something else to say. This American was odd, much odder than Percy. At least percy can act normal at times and isn't obsessed with cartoons... she thought, remembering some of the oddities that she had encountered with the young Welshman.
Miyuki looked away for a moment, and surveyed the bus, thinking of something else to say. This American was odd, much odder than Percy. At least percy can act normal at times and isn't obsessed with cartoons... she thought, remembering some of the oddities that she had encountered with the young Welshman.
Re: [Episode Zero] School Daze
Speaking of Welshmen, Percival was making his way up the sidewalk towards the school as he had been doing the last few days. The distance was something he was still in need of getting used to, but it was already a pretty decent form of exercise to walk such long distances. His usually straight-faced expression opened up into a tired yawn as he approached the entrance to the gate in front of the Academy. The young man walked past the bus station and towards the gate before catching sound of what sounded like crying. Likely it was someone who had already snapped at this school from having to deal with reigning amount of problems it had.
Despite the normalcy of most days, Percival found himself routing out small magical disturbances between classes, having to suddenly leave Hisoka, Hana, and Miyuki to go to class in their usual way without him as he walked to go check some dark corner of the school. Generally, it wasn't much more than a wondering spirit, but sometimes it was stronger. Like... Mage presence stronger. He always felt a deep magical presence when certain people went by. Sometimes those entities would spark and it would have him wondering if they were casting spells, or simply unaware of their magical abilities and causing disturbances. Sometimes Percival thought that it wasn't a mage, or a spirit at all. Instead, it was just a sense of foreboding that tugged at the seams of his mind. At any rate, the young man had been paranoid for the last two days, and was doing his best not to show it. Thankfully, he was feeling rather good right now.
As he turned to see who had began to bawl, he saw Duncan, and then Miyuki. The Welshman walked over at waved at them.
"Good morning, Kagami!" Percival gave a respectful bow to Miyuki with a greeting smile, and then did the same to Duncan, "Good morning, Littlebum! How are you two this morning?"
Percival's Japanese was getting much better.
Despite the normalcy of most days, Percival found himself routing out small magical disturbances between classes, having to suddenly leave Hisoka, Hana, and Miyuki to go to class in their usual way without him as he walked to go check some dark corner of the school. Generally, it wasn't much more than a wondering spirit, but sometimes it was stronger. Like... Mage presence stronger. He always felt a deep magical presence when certain people went by. Sometimes those entities would spark and it would have him wondering if they were casting spells, or simply unaware of their magical abilities and causing disturbances. Sometimes Percival thought that it wasn't a mage, or a spirit at all. Instead, it was just a sense of foreboding that tugged at the seams of his mind. At any rate, the young man had been paranoid for the last two days, and was doing his best not to show it. Thankfully, he was feeling rather good right now.
As he turned to see who had began to bawl, he saw Duncan, and then Miyuki. The Welshman walked over at waved at them.
"Good morning, Kagami!" Percival gave a respectful bow to Miyuki with a greeting smile, and then did the same to Duncan, "Good morning, Littlebum! How are you two this morning?"
Percival's Japanese was getting much better.
Re: [Episode Zero] School Daze
He wanted to break out laughing at Miyuki's expression and could just barely pass it off as nervous, weeping laughter before wiping away the crocodile tears and blowing his nose with a Kleenex tissue from a small packet he'd brought with him just in case. As the moment subsided, Duncan thought to himself of just what to do next after that. After all, how could he follow up such a performance? And then Percival came up and butchered the Japanese language. Oh...it was oh too tempting to pass up! "D-did you just call me...Littlebum?" the American exchange student asked, voice diminutive and slowly breaking into tears.
"Just...just because I'm in Japan all alone doesn't mean I'm a bum, bully!" Duncan cried out.
"Just...just because I'm in Japan all alone doesn't mean I'm a bum, bully!" Duncan cried out.
Re: [Episode Zero] School Daze
Percival leaned back a little bit, his eyes widening at the boy who had called him out on his difficulty to pronounce some strange names. The Welshman took a step back, creating a little distance between himself and Duncan, not wanting to be too close to him, and all. "Ah... You... uh... Your name isn't Littlebum?" he tilted his head, very confused. He threw a desperate look in Miyuki's direction, a look that said Help me!.
Re: [Episode Zero] School Daze
"Ah, good morning Caxton-san, and Duncan-san's surname is Leetenbaum." Miyuki offered, helpfully. "We were just discussing his health and grades, which seem to be opposite of one another, for the most part." She smiled, and patted the spot between herself and Duncan. "Why don't you join us as we wait for Takahashi-Kun and Watanabe-Chan?"
Re: [Episode Zero] School Daze
"Sure! I couldn't bear to miss their love-comedy." said Percival jokingly, plopping himself down in between the two high-schoolers. He sighed and stretched his legs, glad to be off his feet after such a long walk. Sitting next to them now, both students would be able to notice the gentle, honey-sweet smell that seemed to cling to his uniform. The Welshman was aware of it as Miyuki was aware of Duncan's facade, mainly because he had been working with sweetroot in an Alchemy mixture that morning right before school. He lifted his wrist up to check the time, only to notice a sage green stain on the edge of his cuff. He let out a groan as he noticed the rather deepened stain. "Argh... I can't believe this..." He licked his thumb and rubbed it at the green mark. "I just washed this shirt last night!"