harmonize_rpg | (no subject)

Who: Miyume and Kisa
Where: School library
When: Friday, April 21st, after school
What: Time to hit the books.

Skipping Mirai's archery practice to go study in the library was a necessary evil, Miyume knew, but it didn't make her any less pouty about it. Of course, her sulky mood could have been directly related to her late nights and lack of proper sleep of late. Between her rather sudden acquisition of a social life (and a love life, she noted to herself with a secretive smile), frustrating failures at studying in her room, and uncomfortable dreams since starting at Chitoku, Miyume was starting to wear down. There were other reasons for her weariness, too, which she pretended didn't exist as hard as she possibly could with the hope that they'd be crushed by the sheer power of wishful thinking.

Miyume was still pretending those reasons didn't exist while she moved with agonizing slowness toward a table in the middle of the library. She'd left her cane in her room, partly because she didn't want to even look at the thing right now but mostly because she needed both arms to manage the small stack of textbooks and notebooks she was carrying. Anyone could see it was a struggle for her for her but there was a stubborn set to her jaw, even as she reflexively blushed in embarrassment at her weakness.

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"Please, let me help."

Kisa, too, was exhausted. Though she'd hated to, she'd accepted Yachiyo's offer--demand, really--to take the day off. Looking at it objectively, she badly needed it. She'd barely slept last night, and her body was trying to make up for it now. She felt terrible, and was fairly sure she looked it, to her chagrin.

But the least she could do in the meantime was study, which had brought her to the library, and that brought her to her struggling kouhai (she confirmed with a quick glance at her pin, though the girl looked it anyway).

"Are you all right? I can go get a nurse if you need."

Please, let me help.

Unknown to the weary girl who approached her, those magic words resonated with some deep impulse in the back of Miyume's mind. It had been a while since she'd heard them spoken quite so plainly in such a straightforward manner and the effect was powerful. It was almost like an invisible switch had been flipped. Almost immediately, all traces of stubbornness disappeared.

"Oh, I don't need a nurse," Miyume said quickly, looking so contrite, one might think she was a little kid who'd just been caught redhanded stealing from the cookie jar. "But I could use some help with my books and getting to that table over there."

She nodded toward the table she'd been heading for. It was obvious that her books were starting to slip out of her grasp though her grip on them remained strangely loose.

"No problem. Here..."

Kisa scooped up the stack of books, but didn't beeline for the table just yet, instead offering her shoulder for the ill-looking younger girl to lean on, since the two were about the same height--Kisa might have been a little shorter, but it was hard to tell. Tired she might have been, but this much she could do.

Once the books were out of her hands, Miyume leaned on the other girl. She tried not to lean too much on her, seeing how tired she was. To an onlooker, Miyume looked like she was trying to walk on a leg that had fallen asleep and her arms dangled a little more limply than the norm. Even with Kisa's help, her gait was slow and awkward but still far quicker than she'd been moving on her own.

It was a longer process than she'd thought it would be, but Kisa had no problem with that. Once the pair had reached the table in question, she set down the stack of books in a neat pile and pulled out the closest chair for her kouhai.

"Are you all right from here?" She offered a smile that was a little weaker than it might otherwise have been, but was still reasonably cheerful. It was a refreshing bit of normality, at any rate. "If you need help with anything else, let me know."

Oh, blessed relief. Miyume plopped down in the chair, feeling as she'd just come back from running a race than simply crossing the library. She really should have asked someone for help from the start. She wasn't ready to go without her cane, especially in her present condition. Hopefully, by the time she was finished studying, it'd be easier for her to get back to her room.

In the meantime, however, she studied her senpai, a look of concern mingling with the grateful expression.

"I should be fine in a little while but are you okay, senpai? You look tired. You're welcome to rest here as well," she invited, gesturing weakly to a chair at the table.

"I'm sorry to impose."

But Kisa sank gratefully into the proffered chair. Studying could wait for a little while, at least. Besides, she found that her mind was racing too much for it to really be effective anyway. Not that it was anything she could talk about, to her chagrin.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I ought to introduce myself. I'm Saiga, from homeroom 3-ha. It's nice to meet you."

Edited 2013-09-07 00:13 (UTC)

"It's nice to meet you, Saiga-san. I'm Hazama Miyume, from class 1-ro. And please don't worry. You're not imposing on me. I invited you to sit with me, didn't I?"

She studied the older girl a moment then gave her a kind smile. She seemed troubled about something but it wasn't her nature to pry. Maybe she could help take her mind over what was bothering her? It didn't seem right to just take advantage of Saiga-senpai without giving something in return.

"How are you adjusting to Chitoku Academy?" she asked. It seemed as good of a conversation opener as anything else her tired mind could think up just then.

"It's wonderful," Kisa responded, beaming. Regardless of what this strangeness was with the shinmen and the other world and everything else, she was genuinely proud of the surface aims of the Chitoku project, and honored to be a part of it.

And once she could adjust to all of the new things she'd suddenly had to incorporate into her worldview, she might be able to take pride in that as well.

"It's a challenge to keep up the pace they've set for us, but I'm enjoying it. What about you, Hazama-san?"

It was a perfectly normal question yet Miyume found herself staring off into space. Maybe it was because of the severe lecture she'd gotten earlier about breaking curfew this week, shirking her unwanted responsibilities, and generally cavorting in a way with a boy the academy found unseemly.

"I'm having a hard time with it," she admitted reluctantly, not sure why she was doing so.

Perhaps it was because Saiga seemed like such a nice person and those appeared to be few and far between at Chitoku Academy.

"It's been stressful trying to meet their expectations but it's for the good of the country, isn't it? A brighter future for Japan?"

"That's right. We're supposed to be future leaders of the country, so we have to try our hardest to meet those expectations."

There was something in Kisa's smile that was slightly pained, beyond just the surface exhaustion, but not even she really noticed it. "It's only been a few weeks, so you have plenty of time."

Did she?

Miyume wondered about that. The future held no guarantees of anything for a girl like her. She could wind up back in the hospital, the wheelchair, or completely bedridden. Six months from now, she could be back to relying on others to feed her, clothe her, bathe her, or escort her to the bathroom when they remembered to do so. Or she might be feeling well enough to learn how to ice skate or reclaim her title as the Queen of ParaPara from Ayana at their favorite arcade back in Tokyo.

How could Miyume know for certain she wasn't wasting her life pursuing other people's happiness instead of her own? But even so, Saiga made a good point. Maybe she should accept what was instead of what could be.

"I'm sure you're right," Miyume murmured. "It has only been a few weeks. It's still too early to tell how this will work out."