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Who: Haruka+Baku
Where: Class
When: Monday 24, afternoon class
What: Class Discussion

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Partner projects were inevitable.

It'd been a few weeks of classes when, during literature, it was announced they would be breaking into pairs to discuss what lessons could be taken from different famous myths, what meaning it might have held in the past and what meanings can apply to the present. Yamagata named off the pairs and assigned each a myth.

When it came to Haruka, he said she was with Ogata and that they would be studying the Izanagi and Izanami's part in the story of creation.

She tilted her head curiously. The new guy who's name was like a spirit, huh...

The class broke up for discussion. She stood and began walking back up the aisle. Ogata had sounded like he was around the middle of the row...

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At first, Baku simply nods, but then he has to remind himself about her again. "Uhh, yeah, that's me..." Smooth start. He can't help but smile sheepishly as his next question forms in his head, and so he leans a bit closer to her and murmurs, "so, uhh... what was the assignment, again?" She certainly seemed well-coordinated, for being deprived of one of her senses. Or rather, that's what Baku focused on in order to avoid coming to the realization that he would have to work with a girl.

Not that he didn't like girls. He was as hormonal as the next guy, in fact, but he tended to view them as the forbidden fruit that would surely distract him from his training and throw him off track. You know, she's kinda cut-

NO. NO. Stop it, damned brain.

Haruka tilted her head slightly and leaned a bit closer, unaware of the closeness.

"Study the creation myth surrounding Izanagi and Izanami for lessons of the past and lessons that can be learned now?" She turned her head upwards. "So I guess that would include obey your husband or end up with deformed kids? Sucky one."

Baku froze like a deer in the headlights at her proximity to him, color quickly rising to his cheeks. Others even looked over a moment at how close they were; he could practically feel the heat from her face against his. She seriously can't... He slowly inches himself back from her before noticing he'd let the conversation hang for too long.

"I-I, uhh... I'd probably stick more to the, uhh, concept of, err... 'don't look a gift horse in the mouth' or something like that."

"Don't think that's in the story?" However, she shrugged. "There's also 'Infanticide leads to new life'? Don't have kids or it'll eventually kill you?"

She seemed to think on what she'd just said for a moment before going, "Wow. When you think about it, these myths were kind of fucked up."

"Heh, yeah, a lot of them seem that way, especially when Ryuta-san makes you study them all in detail..." the color leaves his cheeks as rational thought slowly returns.

After he'd had a sufficient amount of time to regain his composure, he clears his throat in order to clarify, "but what I meant was, if he'd simply left her after she told him that she was unable to leave the underworld, then he wouldn't have shattered his good memories of her and brought about the cycle of life and death, but curiosity brought all that about." Thankfully, she's not able to see the blink of surprise that comes from him when he says this.

Where the hell did you pull that explanation from?

"Uhh... I mean, unless you have a better idea."

Yeah, smooth move.

"Huh. Tanemoto's the tutor from hell?" She asked, however she didn't look surprised. If anything, she looked a bit amused.

"Probably not? At least, not one that'd get us a good mark. Though that'd be more curiosity kills your kids and brings doom than a gift horse." Looking a bit more critical, she commented,

"I'd take away from it to not say things you don't really mean? Izanagi said he still loved her and wanted to be with her but not apparently not really? He only really wanted her as long as she was something else rather than what she was."

Edited 2013-09-28 06:12 (UTC)

"It's like being roomed with a teacher, almost," he says this in a teasing manner, grinning gently at the concept in his head, "a teacher who can't really tell you what to do but constantly makes suggestions. He thinks he's got everything figured out, but he really should take himself with a grain of salt." Heh heh.

He considers Haruka's last suggestion with a serious look and a firm nod - it wasn't a bad analogy at all. You should probably be writing this down, seeing as she can't. And write he does, responding simultaneously.

"Yeah, that sounds about right. Maybe along with something about how defying the natural order of things can only lead to a poor result."

"Sucky," Haruka said, matter-of-fact. "Though I guess if he really did have all the answers, that'd make things more easy?"

In response to the other question, Haruka seemed to think on this a bit before she said simply,

"Apparently? Seems to be a running theme in that one. Go with the flow, don't step out of line, do as your supposed to, and things will be peachy except for possible death and zombiefication."

"Yeah, probably why they keep this story around; they don't like anyone stepping out of line," his expression brightens with mischief after her simplification. Truth be told, he wasn't a fan of authority himself - a trait that Haruka seemed to share. What kind of girl references zombification, anyways? She's an odd one. The playful thought trickles through his mind a moment before he returns to the previous topic.

"Ryuta-san wouldn't just give you the answers, not on your life. He'd make you find them. It's a pain, really."

"Probably? Makes a scary bed time story like Grimms Brothers," Haruka replied. "They're supposed to have lessons but it whoever came up with it probably just thought it'd be a good story. Or a tool to scare the shit out of misbehaving kids?

"Darn. There goes the chances of diabolical tortures like the leaking facet and the infamous comfy chair." She shrugged though. "At least you have the satisfaction of finding them yourself?"

The teen cracks a facetious grin, apparently having already prepared his rebuttal.

"Yeah, but even if you look at the nursery rhymes for small children, they're typically morbid or dark. No, I think it's a reflection of the people teaching them to us." He says this matter-of-factly, but wisely chooses to omit the statement in his writing. No matter his thoughts, it's probably a good idea not to rock the boat a scant week after you've arrived.

At her last questioning statement, he releases a dry chuckle, "nah, not really. If I go Olympic with kendo like I'm planning, I'll hardly need to know any of this."

Edited 2013-10-01 13:43 (UTC)

"Sorta? Grimms were dark and those stories were meant for adults. Kids got the versions with singing animals and princes and princesses everywhere," Haruka replied.

"Ambitious." She tilted her head curiously. "That good?"

He nods emphatically in reply, but again has to remind himself that she can't see his nodding.

"Yeah, I'd like to think so, anyways... I've been training ever since I was a small boy. Not my choice, really, but I grew into it. What's that term... maybe a little 'Stockholm syndrome' had something to do with that."

He was confident, if nothing else, and his voice certainly reflected that.

"Huh. It's okay as long as you enjoyed it in the end?" Haruka commented. She leaned back a little, and her finger lightly brushed over the desk. Everything in the school was spic and span new but she could already feel markings on the desk from an either bored or artistically inclined student.

"Sound confident enough about it though. Wonder how that'd sound during career counselling."

"These academic types don't think it's a realistic goal, even Ryuta doesn't take it very seriously," Baku scoffs at the notion with a sheepish grin. Not that he's had any sort of extended contact with a career counselor; who has time for that, anyways? Even so, the line of questioning sparked a question in Baku's own mind. They were getting terribly off-track for their project, but he didn't mind.

"What do you want to do when you're older?"

Haruka said nothing for a moment.

Then, she smiled and said simply,

"Voice acting."

"Yeah, that makes sense, you have a pretty voice." The phrase slips out casually, and it takes a moment for Baku to realize the implications of what he'd just said. The end-result is nothing short of full-fledged embarrassment.

What are you saying, idiot?!

"Wait, I mean... well, that's true, but not that I..."

Idiot.

"Uhh... what made you want to get into that kinda stuff?" Phew.

"Thanks." Haruka's smile widened slightly, becoming a smirk with a spark there. She continued,

"Got a lot practice through online work and I enjoy it and I'm good at it. It's something I think I could actually succeed at too, and it's better than massage or acupuncture*?"

((*Two traditional jobs for the blind in Japan))

His composure returns and the teen bobs his head gently, "yeah, sounds like a great alternative." This was a nice conversation, but something seemed off at the moment, as if he'd forgotten something he was supposed to do. What was the point of all this again? Whatever; if he couldn't remember, it probably wasn't that important!

"Is that what you used to get into Chitoku? They took my kendo, so I suppose anything is possible."

Haruka's smile faded. However, after a moment, she simply shrugged. Seemingly unaffected.

"Sorta? I got accepted for drama and then got transferred to 'critical thinking' near the start of term," she replied. "Sucked a lot but I'm stuck with it."

Biggest. Understatement.

The teen seems a bit confused at that. Why would they switch the reason she came to this school? And 'critical thinking?' That sounded extremely generic. And didn't some of the other students say something about Ryuta being pulled out of his own class? Something was definitely odd about this school. Maybe the faculty was taking a proactive approach to appointing the student council?

"Yeesh, I hope they don't pull me out of kendo. Having it for a class every day has been nice." And that was the truth - it was finally a class he excelled at. Despite the sheer lack of interest that negatively impacts his grades for most academic subjects, he is remarkably learned in kendo theory.

"Probably not? They only grab certain people. Bit like grabbing the lottery," she replied. And hadn't been shy about grabbing more since the first batch.

"I'd take kendo over critical thinking too, I think."

"Lottery, huh? Well, it sure doesn't sound very lucky, if it's to switch your class out for something dumb like critical thinking. What makes it so bad, anyways?"

Having risked the wrath of their sensei for long enough, he returns to fleshing out the ideas he already has written down, glancing up occasionally as Haruka responds.

Haruka tilted her head upwards. She lowered her voice, speaking gravely,

"Well, we go to alternate worlds, commit seppeku to summon mythical creatures to fight creatures of darkness - risking our lives for the 'greater good' and country."

And then she snapped back to normal.

"Is what I'd say if this were a manga." She sighed. "It's just not what I came here for."

Baku stares at Haruka with no small amount of incredulity. Was this girl for real? The notion struck an odd chord at the back of his mind, but he dismisses the notion as soon as it arises. She's certainly an interesting one, that's for sure. Despite the ridiculous words she says, the way she manages to get the phrase out in such a dark tone of voice elicits a playful grin and a snicker from the boy.

"Wow, no wonder you do voice acting. I almost believed it for a second!"

"I try." Beat. "Would be something if it was true? I could do a tell all online or take over the school speakers to try to spread the word to flee or be drafted by Destiny. But it's not like anyone would believe me."

Edited 2013-10-05 04:06 (UTC)

He dismisses the notion with another weak chuckle and the shake of his head.

"Yeah, well, with a tone of voice like that, they might believe you anyways. But maybe you should stick with something a little more believable, like a secret plot of treason or something along those lines." The concept was amusing, but the subject matter was drawing an increasing amount of alarm from Baku; he shakes his head after he speaks, deciding to switch the topic back to something far less likely to get them into trouble.

"Anyways, back to Izanami and Izanagi."

"Huh. Maybe? Though joking about plots against the Emperor would get a smack down," she replied easily. In response to his last point,

"Breaks ups are messy?"

Baku can't help but shakes his head with a gentle grin, writing down her last phrase as he repeats after her, "break-ups are messy."

She's a strange girl, but hardly boring in the slightest. I'd have thought that being blind would make her feel vulnerable, but she's just as ready to jump into weird topics as anyone else. More so, even.

Haruka nodded. She heard Baku scratching things down in one direction while in the other, she heard another pair debating whether it was justified to cut and run if your wife was a yandere.

"Any other ideas?"

His reply comes by way of a sheepish shrug, "not really. I kinda like that one, too. Simple, profound, and relevant, you know?" Not to mention, he wasn't sure how much time they actually had left for the assignment, so he thought it best to flesh out the current idea as much as possible.

"Okay then. It can be combined with other points too," Haruka said. "Like on how not to break up with someone and when to give up.

"Think that's enough for an assignment?"

The teen lets loose a nervous sigh as he considers her question. Maybe not, but then again, let's roll with what we've got.

"It should be fine, I'll just, uhh... give it a lot of detail," no sooner has Baku made this statement that Sawatari-sensei began prompting students to return to their seats. Seeing as he was already in his, Baku turns to Haruka and offers a gentle smile. She probably couldn't see it, but it felt natural to do that anyways.

"Uhh, yeah! We'll be fine!"

Edited 2013-10-05 06:27 (UTC)

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