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[harmonizemods.insanejournal.com]

Who: The Chitoku inaugural class.
Where: Chitoku campus, various locations.
When: Sunday, April 3, 2022, two days before the start of spring term.
What: The school has opened its doors.


After eight years of careful planning and preparation, the campus of Chitoku Academy for the Gifted was coming alive at last. Helpful staff members had been posted everywhere in anticipation of the crowd, and seemingly every variable had been accounted for in order to make the move-in and initial orientation go as smoothly as possible...

Save, that is, for the weather.

The sky had just opened up on several hundred students and their families. Boxes and suitcases were being hastily hauled to whatever shelter could be found, with the aforementioned helpful staff members now acting as guides to the most convenient locations, and clusters of people seemed to naturally form around them, waiting for the downpour to slacken so the day could proceed.

Comments

Re: Dorm (before cafeteria?)

[allisnothing]

"Darn. So many go-getters compared to me."

Haruka walked slow enough for Abendroth and still dripping water where she went. The stairs weren't too bad further up, compared to the bottle necking earlier.

"What's your specialty?"

Re: Dorm (before cafeteria?)

[fassade]

Go-getter? She wouldn't say that, really. If she had her way, she wouldn't really even be here. If not on her mother's behest, she would be back in Germany. She would still be ridiculed, but it would at least be familiar mockery. Aggression was aggression, she reasoned, no matter where it came from. She realized then that she was asked a question.

"Piano. Yourself?"

The talk of specialties got her curious, however. What did specialty would a blind person have? Not that she thought her incapable of doing things, merely that there must be some workarounds, right? The German lugged the other girl's luggage with little problem up the stairs, careful of the now wet and slippery stairs. She made a mental note to watch Haruka's footing as well; at least she was holding onto the railings.

Re: Dorm (before cafeteria?)

[allisnothing]

"Huh. Interesting."

Haruka, meanwhile, was walking up the stairs with little problem. It was linear and even enough she didn't bother to feel what was next with her cane. When they hit the flight, she felt instructions on the railing telling her to keep going and went forward without missing a beat.

"Drama here."

Re: Dorm (before cafeteria?)

[fassade]

Drama? The German girl wondered what it would be like to act while completely blind. That would be hard... but perhaps she meant with her voice? She knew that voice acting was a popular profession. Something told her this girl would fit right in if that were the case. As she made her way up the stairs, Chloe was careful with her own footing; the puddles that the girl was leaving would be dangerous should she slip in them while holding her luggage.

Talking was not Chloe's strong suit. Most people would be eager to engage in small-talk. This was not so for the giant of a first year. She was perfectly fine to remain in silence. She was pretty sure she had nothing interesting to say either way, so it was at least a win for Haruka.

Re: Dorm (before cafeteria?)

[allisnothing]

Haruka adjusted her pace to Abendroth's, slowing with her. For a while, Haruka let the lull to silence remain, before saying,

"I'm from Kyoto. You?"

Re: Dorm (before cafeteria?)

[fassade]

"Germany."

Was her short response. Well, at least it would explain the strange accent that the girl had undoubtedly noticed. Inwardly, she wondered if she was like all the others. Because this girl couldn't see, was appearance and other trivial matters as much a concern to her? Did she care where she was born or that she wasn't Japanese? The German had learned long ago not to get her hopes up; now was no exception.

Re: Dorm (before cafeteria?)

[allisnothing]

"Interesting," Haruka said, turning her head upwards somewhat in thought.

"So German accents sound really cool, I guess? Good to know."

Re: Dorm (before cafeteria?)

[fassade]

The German blinked, almost as if she hadn't heard Haruka properly. Her accent sounded 'cool' to Haruka? No one had ever said that to her before. In fact, being an outsider, it was quite the opposite; the Japanese would listen to her speak their language and frown with disdain usually. The German cleared her throat awkwardly, unsure of how to respond to this (or any other) compliment.

Re: Dorm (before cafeteria?)

[allisnothing]

Up another flight of stairs. Haruka's fingers brushed over the railing's directions again before letting go and altering her trajectory. Floor five, second year floor.

She turned her head back to Abendroth and asked,

"Got your clubs picked yet?"

Re: Dorm (before cafeteria?)

[fassade]

Careful with the blind girl's luggage, Chloe tilted her head slightly at the question, almost inquisitively. Clubs... that had been a slight sore spot for her. She didn't really like associating with people, and clubs made you do that. Whats worse, she was required to choose at least two; a sport and a cultural club. She frowned only slightly.

"... Judo and Music. Yourself?"

The question was more a matter of politeness, but she found deep down she was slightly interested in knowing the answer.

Re: Dorm (before cafeteria?)

[allisnothing]

"Interesting. Guess music's self-explanatory after the piano thing," she replied. She held the door open for Abendroth. "Drama and swim." After a moment, she said, "Don't suppose I can shangai you into either?"

Re: Dorm (before cafeteria?)

[fassade]

The German quickly shook her head at the offer before remembering that Haruka couldn't see her. Damnit, this was getting annoying.

"No."

Was her blunt reply. She quickly slipped through the door that Haruka held open for her, offering a small grunt of thanks. The ridiculously tall girl waited politely for Haruka to pass her and take up the lead again.

Re: Dorm (before cafeteria?)

[allisnothing]

"Darn. Guess I'll have to shanghai some other impressionable first year," she replied, passing for Abendroth. She felt near the door for the floor map, taking her time as her fingers brushed over the wall and missed it by a few centimeters.

"Have you checked out the city yet?"

Re: Dorm (before cafeteria?)

[fassade]

Chloe was patient. She didn't want to insult the girl by directing her hand or telling her which way to move; she figured that would be patronizing.

"No. It's... not my thing."

The German said, almost matter o' factly. The city had many things in it, but the most popular places she heard about were the night clubs and such. Yeah... definitely not her thing.

Re: Dorm (before cafeteria?)

[allisnothing]

"Huh. What is your thing then?"

She kept feeling until her fingers caught on the board. She shuffled a little until her fingers read the general lay out and the direction her room would be. She lingered a bit longer even after she found her room so she could memorize the entire floor, before nodding and starting in the right direction.

Re: Dorm (before cafeteria?)

[fassade]

What was her thing? The question gave her slight pause. What WAS her thing? Last time she checked she really didn't have one... music and cooking were pretty much the only things she excelled at besides physical endeavours. As the blind girl began to move so too did the German, almost as if on auto-pilot.

"...I don't have one."

She said truthfully, her eyes turning towards the room numbers so she could help Haruka find her room if she really did need it. Something told her she was just fine navigating by herself, however.

Re: Dorm (before cafeteria?)

[allisnothing]

"Piano doesn't count?" Haruka asked, without missing much of a beat.

She was lightly dragging her fingers along the wall, feeling for when the wall gave way to doors. According to the layout that was the closet and the next door was where this side's dorm rooms started. It hadn't said one thing though...

"Which sides are odd and even numbers on?"

Re: Dorm (before cafeteria?)

[fassade]

Did Piano count? She wasn't really sure. She mulled that thought over for a few moments before Haruka spoke again, this time asking for assistance. With a quick glance, the German gave her answer.

"The right is odd."

She said, looking down the hallway. She already knew roughly where the room would be, but that was fine. She would let Haruka discover it on her own. It was her room, after all, and she needed to know where it was instead of just being lead there.

Re: Dorm (before cafeteria?)

[allisnothing]

Haruka nodded. "Thanks."

Her fingers continued to drag and she counted the doors: 502...504....506...508...

And then she stopped in front of the appropriate door. She turned to Abendroth and said, "Here we are?"

Re: Dorm (before cafeteria?)

[fassade]

Chloe nodded before catching herself again.

"Yes. 510."

The German did not set down the luggage just yet. She would carry it in for the blind girl, but she needed to wait for her to unlock the door first. Chloe patiently watched the blind girl. She was very independent for someone that society perceived as "less-than-able". Hell, she was more independent than a lot of kids she had seen on campus already. Most of them looked to be rich kids from well-to-do families. With a silent nod, Chloe affirmed her approval of Haruka.

Re: Dorm (before cafeteria?)

[allisnothing]

Haruka waited for a moment to see what would happen, but since she didn't hear movement, she unlocked the door and turned back, nodding gratefully.

"Thanks a lot for the help. Sorry for dripping on you again."

Re: Dorm (before cafeteria?)

[fassade]

"Not a problem."

And really, it wasn't. She had been rained on before so a little water never hurt anyone. The German held the bag of luggage in one hand, but gently set it down on the floor by the door. IT would be rude to just enter the girl's dorm, even with the intent of helping her. Assume nothing. Instead, she stood politely next to the bag, waiting for whatever Haruka was going to do next. If she went to take the bag, Chloe would not object. Part of her hoped that Haruka would get into dry clothes soon lest she catch a cold; being sick during the first days of school would be a rather terrible first impression, she thought.

Re: Dorm (before cafeteria?)

[allisnothing]

Haruka reached for the bag after she heard it set down. However, she didn't leave immediately. Instead, she just tilted her head again and asked,

"What do you think your thing might be?"

Re: Dorm (before cafeteria?)

[fassade]

The tall girl was caught off guard by the sudden question that was dropped earlier. An uneasy silence was made apparent between the two of them as Chloe did her best to think about how to answer that question. What was her thing? Her niche? She didn't feel she had one... or deserved one for that matter. She could give her a sellout answer like 'oh, yeah, piano.' but she felt Haruka deserved more than that; she didn't feel like making stuff up for the blind girl.

"...perhaps I will find out."

The German said truthfully. Maybe she would find her thing here? She doubted it, but stranger things had happened before.

Re: Dorm (before cafeteria?)

[allisnothing]

Haruka listened, and seemed to think on the answer before nodding.

"Interesting. How the hero's journey starts part of the time, right?" She shrugged a little. "Sounds fun."