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Who: Students, teachers, officials, various members of the press.
Where: Chitoku campus, meeting hall, then classrooms.
When: Tuesday, April 5, the first day of spring term.
What: Introduction and classes.

Like so many other things on the campus, Chitoku's main meeting hall was impressively huge, clearly able to hold more than the nearly thousand students, faculty, and press assembled within.

Perhaps even stranger than this was the fact that it was two stories underground.

Of course, there was an explanation ready: it doubled as an emergency evacuation site in case of an earthquake--or worse. While it satisfied the inevitable questions from the press, it likely didn't make the situation feel any less strange to the students who had--by and large--neatly filed in and taken their seats. Homeroom assignments had already been given, so with the students, teachers, press, and attending officials in their respective places, it was just a matter of waiting for the man of the hour--or at least the next fifteen minutes.

Principal Yosehira Norihiko was a distinguished gentleman, tall and trim and already going grey at the temples in his late forties. He took the podium once the initial murmuring had faded, and regarded the assembled crowd with a sort of general benevolence, in sharp contrast to the stern-looking Ministry of Education officials with whom he shared the stage.

"I would like to welcome you all to Chitoku Academy for the Gifted," he began. "This day is the culmination of years of tireless effort by the best our nation has to offer. I am honored and humbled to be a part of this project--it will surely be an essential cornerstone of the new Japan we are all striving to build."

He turned his eyes on the sea of uniformed students, seated in careful rows on benches behind the VIPs. "It is my hope that you, our pupils, will learn from their example, and teach those who will come after you in turn, to create a chain of loyalty and harmony between the greatest minds of each generation.

"In the wise words of Emperor Meiji: 'bear yourselves in modesty and moderation; extend your benevolence to all; pursue learning and cultivate arts, and thereby develop intellectual faculties and perfect moral powers'." The quote from the Imperial Rescript on Education had certainly not been used in such a high-profile setting since its abolition after the war, and hearing it resound through the hall now set many astir.

"That was his wish to his subjects, and that is ours to you now: to live up to the name of your school by cultivating both learning and virtue, and to become credits to your nation." And with a long bow, he ended his remarks and left the stage, allowing those better trained than he to deal with the press to take their questions.

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"Oh, I doubt I'll be going into the city much. I sort of promised my mother I wouldn't go anywhere unaccompanied. She's not exactly pleased I'm here by myself but it was too good of an opportunity to waste."

People like her didn't often get chances like this. It had been either this or nothing at all.

"And I'd rather not get too distracted from my studies. Good grades require a lot of effort on my part."

"That is the price we all pay, Miyume-chan. Just give me half a year, and I'll have no chance to speak to you at all." It was good to think Finals were still far away. Truly he ought to enjoy his freedom, he thought.

"If it something you do for learning, venturing to the city couldn't hurt," he said after.

"There may be some places worth visiting," Miyume acquiesced, though there was a noncommittal tone to her reply. "Perhaps a trip to a museum or an onsen is in order."

The former was educational and the latter good for her health, after all.

"Oh, we're blocking the stairs," she said as if suddenly remembering where they were. She moved away from Mirai and began heading up the stairs once more, this time holding the handrail and being careful not to rush.

Mirai followed and drifted off with his thoughts. The relief it gave him to imagine himself in an onsen ran cold when he settled his gaze on his kouhai. Somebody bumped into him with their shoulder. He waved it off. He thought she was more interesting than anyone he had met so far.

"I love a hot bath, but if you feel you want to experience something new... perhaps you should be distracted just enough from your studies to leave me a message."

Miyume couldn't help but smile at that. It wasn't the first time she'd caught a boy's eye, nor was it the first time she'd been fed a line by one. Fortunately for Mirai, it didn't bother her this time any more than it had the others. She wasn't so ungrateful that she couldn't appreciate the male attention she received.

"I love hot baths, too. Perhaps I'll take you up on your offer sometime," she said, her outward demeanor completely innocent. "Distractions can be good for the soul on occasion."

Mirai was still following behind her as they began ascending another flight of stairs, simply because he was expecting her to fall down again. He could tell something was wrong. He wanted to know what it was so much that he considered kicking her cane out from under her. In pretense, of course. He was just finding no fun in being patient.

"They can," he said. "Or they can turn it bad. After all, there's enough temptation out there in the big bad world." A sigh. "You're a clever girl, Miyume-chan. Perhaps you should listen to your mother."

"Uh, huh..."

Part of Miyume wondered just how dumb he took her for, a part that was quickly being shoved down and stomped into submission. Too much thinking led to madness, after all. And it wasn't as if she was even all that interested. Mirai was handsome and seemed well-mannered and bright but those weren't traits she tended to look for in people.

"I do listen to my mother," she said after a moment. "She gave me all kinds of advice before I came here."

Like how to handle boys who seem a little too interested in me, she added mentally.

Mirai shut his eyes as he walked. Another good person. Or, he thought as they climbed up the last few stairs, someone who shrouded herself with goodness because she was as clever as he was himself. He yearned to find someone who would understand him a little better. He simply could not imagine having fun by himself for very long - that was what he would say.

"That is such an admirable attitude. But how are you supposed to learn from mistakes if you don't make any?"

"Experience isn't the only teacher in this world," Miyume said sagely.

If Mirai had found her mysterious before, the aura the girl gave off now made her seem downright unearthly. She looked as fragile, innocent, and girlish as she had this whole time aside from her eyes. For a brief moment, her eyes were those of an old wise woman, not a young girl barely across the threshold of adolescence. Her eyes met Mirai's in a knowing, yet slightly mischievous gaze. However, if he were to look longer, he'd notice something outright forbidding in their soft, brown depths.

Then just as quickly as the fey aura had come, it vanished, and Hazama Miyume seemed just like any other impressionable first year girl.

The aura that came down was almost perfect. Mirai took the time to enjoy a stare himself, while the mystery became deeper and arousing and he found he was being drawn into it. And if Miyume were to look into his eyes then, she would see something selfish, intense and cunning.

"No, it's not. Like every good teacher you're quite informed, Miyume-chan. But I don't think you quite have the knowledge and understanding to teach me what I need to know."

Miyume's mysterious aura was vanishing before his eyes. And his grumble displayed a fourth emotion: frustration. He had no wish of having witnessed the last of it. And he had no intention of letting anybody know about what he had seen. He would hoard it, secret it, and keep it for himself.

Whatever reaction Miyume had expected, it hadn't been that. She had no doubt that the self-serving, manipulative creature she'd glimpsed was this boy's true colors. Someone like him was far too dangerous to be left unchecked, she thought. Sacrifices would become necessary if she strayed down that path.

Regardless, Miyume couldn't just keep standing there watching him like this. She did have to get to class and so did he. Still, she was curious about something. Very cautiously, she reached toward his face, almost as if she was reaching out to touch a wild animal. Miyume stopped just short of actually touching him and waited.

Mirai found this very amusing. This girl was like a small wisp in the darkness, so clear yet unable to be caught. First, he thought to swat her around with his hand. But then he thought to catch her, pocket her, and hide her away where her light would only reach his eyes.

With a feeling he was grasping at straws, every other emotion seemed to be drowned out as dissatisfaction ran through his body. He needed to know! But she hovered at a distance. His head hung a little, and his hair dropped from behind his ears to cover half his face. But then he lifted it up defiantly.

Then came his reaction. A murmur of surprise and disapproval. Despite his criticism, one could have sworn that his head and eyes were slanted towards her in interest. Whereupon he re-birthed his smile; it was wider and even more disarming.

"... What are you doing?"

And suddenly, Mirai wasn't alone with his frustration. For a second, Miyume's eyes flashed with annoyance before the emotion quickly sank beneath her placid surface. She snatched her hand back, quickly returning it to her side. She avoided his gaze, cheeks stained pink, under the guise of concentrating on the hallway before her.

"I thought I saw something on your face but I guess I was wrong," she murmured. "Please forgive my trespass, senpai."

"There's nothing to forgive, Miyume-chan," he said to her. "It isn't a huge deal - and like every senpai, I should show understanding. Or would you feel better if I let you write there in your own skin, dear? Is that what you want?"

Miyume had seen though the dark, but she had reached into it with understanding rather than banish it with anger. His smile was still there when she would look back, and this time even some friendliness was daubed across it.

Something had changed in the past few moments, though Miyume wasn't sure exactly what just yet. As Mirai spoke, that odd blend of mystery and mischief resurfaced. She reached toward his face again, still not quite touching his skin. Playfully, she traced the kanji in her own name there; 'mi' for 'beauty' and 'yume' for 'dream'. Then she pulled her hand back, smiling broadly, and turned her attention back to the hallway as if she'd done nothing out of the ordinary.

Mirai seemed fascinated by this. He was focusing quite intently on the small thin hand. The way it moved was mysterious too. He stared down at it and with expressions that showed he was very interested in Miyume. Her company would have to be his!

He followed behind. The crowd was pushing them along. He did not really notice the patter of feet or all the whispering. The place his mind was in was another world. He was almost able to keep up with the girl's mystery - which was then turned around, for the darkness she secluded herself in was now spreading, in the way of dreams, over everybody between them.

He followed close behind. He was too wily and experienced to be lost. He would have gone even closer, with his chest as close to Miyume's back as possible - as her finger had been to his face. But he was being conscientious, well aware of their closeness - or he was being careful now they were close to her homeroom - where the teacher would be soon, with a watchful eye.

Edited 2013-08-16 01:01 (UTC)

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