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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.

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For someone as tall as Chloe was, she moved with surprising grace. She quickly began making her way down the flights of stairs that would lead her out and eventually to the Cafeteria. The hobby-chef wanted to see if there were any facilities there that were opened to students who might prefer to make their own meals instead of stomaching whatever the cafeteria decided they needed to eat. Most cafeterias that she had been to hadn't had the best food available, but then again, this was a high class facility.

Lost in that thought, Chloe almost didn't notice the other girl coming up the stairs. Almost. The German noticed something peculiar about this girl, otherwise she wouldn't have given her a second look; this girl had her eyes closed while she traversed her way up the stairs. That certainly was odd unless... wait, was this girl blind? Chloe stopped and stepped to the side on the landing so that the girl and her luggage could get by; there was no way both of them would fit (stop being a giant Chloe geez).

Chloe waited patiently and quietly for the girl to pass.

Haruka heard someone close by move. "Oh. Thanks-"

However, she was't done that before she brushed against the other, much taller girl as she squeezed past. It was a tight fit with her bag too, so Haruka ended up dripping over them. Turning back she said,

"Sorry. My bad."

Chloe shook her head before remember the girl couldn't see her. Instead she actually had to speak. It was strange for her, considering speaking was kind of a last resort thing for her.

"No problem, Miss."

Chloe was nothing if not at least polite. Haruka had given her no reason to be the nasty outsider that most people made her out to be, even if her accent was strange. The German brushed at her now wet clothes as if it was of little consequence. Something made the girl pause before walking away down the stairs. Her piercing icy gaze fell on the bags that the girl carried. After a few moments, the taller girl cleared her throat awkwardly.

"...Would you like some help?"

Blunt as ever it seemed.

Haruka tilted her head curiously at the other girl's voice. She seemed to regard her, before saying,

"Sure, if you're offering." Haruka nodded and took a step up to give the other girl more room. "I'm Haruka Shikata, second year. You?"

"Chloe Abendroth, first year."

She responded. With that, Chloe carefully reached out and took the heaviest bag that the girl was carrying. It wasn't too heavy, she found, but then again heavy was a matter of perception. Tilting her head almost curiously, she spoke again.

"Room number?"

Haruka looked a bit surprised. It passed after a moment with a slight shrug. She felt a light tug on her bag and let go, allowing Abendroth to take it. "Huh. Pleased to meet you then, Abendorofu-san. Please take care of me I guess?

"510." She took a leading step, holding the stairs the entire time, feeling for braile-directions. Turning back. "Did you settle in already?"

Take care of her? Yes, that is what they said, wasn't it? It was a bit strange to her, but she understood its cultural importance. At the question the other girl asked, Chloe simply nodded before remembering, again, that she couldn't see her nod.

"Yes."

Was her only response. The German didn't want to insult the girl's independence by just up and assuming the lead up the stairs, so she patiently and politely waited for the girl to navigate them to room 510.

"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?"

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.

"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."

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.

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?"

"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.

Edited 2013-08-30 01:31 (UTC)

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

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

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.

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?"

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.

"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?"

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.

"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?"

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.

"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.

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.

"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?"

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.

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