Ok you have a good point here Daiki. I just avoided Kaede cause I think it might annoy her, but Shinji is stubborn this way and would try to help her.
Change vote to [X] Check on Kaede and see if she is alright - she didn't eat after all, and she seems almost lost, her eyes drifting towards the gardens
Change vote to [x]Check on Kaede and see if she is alright-she didn't eat after all, and she seems almost lost, her eyes drifting towards the gardens
[X] Check on Kaede and see if she is alright - she didn't eat after all, and she seems almost lost, her eyes drifting towards the gardens
[X] No - he wants to look at the garden and see how Miyuki-senpai's plants are doing
[X] Check on Kaede and see if she is alright - she didn't eat after all, and she seems almost lost, her eyes drifting towards the gardens
[X] No - he wants to look at the garden and see how Miyuki-senpai's plants are doing
As Shinji eased himself into an overstuffed chair by the Common Room's fireplace after dinner, opening up the much-read book on Soul Magic he had studied with Selina over the summer, he found himself thinking about what things had been like during his first year, when in truth, he'd been very much alone, with only Miyuki-senpai and Natsumi helping to make the transition something...that wasn't painful. Well, less painful than it otherwise might have been anyway, though it wasn't an entirely painless process.
Nothing really was, when all was said and done.
Over the year, things had changed for the better, and now he even had friends outside of Hufflepuff. And people who were more than friends, like Selina who he considered more a sister than a friend, and Amber who...well, whatever she was to him.
Since he'd already built up so many social connections, he didn't really see the need to engage in the usual ritual of small talk with unimportant people, since everyone he'd wanted to talk to he'd either seen on the train or would see in private later, unlike loudmouths like Zacharias Smith who thought that using up all the oxygen in the room translated to making friends.
The first years though - he could see how they needed to socialize, since none of them knew each other yet, their enthusiasm and curiosity providing a nice bit of background noise for his reading.
Only...as he tried to concentrate on the book of forbidden magic in his lap, he found his eyes being drawn to a first year who stood apart from the crowd: the dark-eyed, dark-haired beauty named Momiji Kaede.
'This won't do,' he thought, closing his book and getting out of his seat as he walked over to her.
"Shouldn't you be talking to some of the others?" he asked as he approached her.
"You," she observed tonelessly.
"Yes, me," Shinji replied with a smile. "Who else would I be, after all?" he quipped.
His remark failed to elicit much of a reaction from the girl, however, as she simply looked past him, her gaze slowly taking in the room, but not the people.
'The plants...she's looking at all of the plants...'
His suspicions were confirmed when she paused to stare at the door leading to the garden.
"...see something you like?" he asked.
"The plants here are well-cared for," Kaede murmured, her voice almost...wistful, showing a sign of emotion for the first time.
"Hufflepuff is the House that most respects nature," the boy stated. "And as for the gardens, Miyuki-senpai spends much of her time there." He smiled slightly, though there was a slight hint of pain in his expression. "Sometimes I think she likes plants more than people."
Kaede just looked at him as if he'd said something incredibly obvious.
"People are confusing," the Japanese girl observed. "Loud. Dishonest. Full of Contradictions. Always in a rush. Always..."
"...well, true, if you speak of the British," Shinji joked - in Japanese, so no one would else would understand him. "Especially at feasts - I don't know why they eat so quickly or fight over food. There's always enough, even if its too heavy."
But the girl shook her head.
"I speak of people," she corrected. "Plants are...simpler. Easier to understand."
"They are?"
"They are honest. Patient. Present. Always in the moment."
"I'm not sure they see time as people do," Shinji observed thoughtfully.
"They don't," Kaede murmured, seeming utterly certain of her words. For a moment, the boy thought he was beginning to understand her, but then... "Good night."
With that, she turned to go, heading up to the dormitories, alone.
'What a confusing girl,' he thought as he watched her go.
"One dinner and you're already head over heels for a new girl?" a voice questioned from behind him, with Shinji turning with a start to see a mischievously smiling Natsumi. "Aren't Amber and I enough for you?"
"Um, uh..."
"Kidding," the brunette quipped, with the boy feeling like he'd dodged a blasting curse. "It's fun teasing you like that."
"Is it? Not from where I'm standing."
"Oh you know, it all depends on your certain point of view," Natsumi said, as if quoting from something. Then a hint of something else entered her voice. "So, you never told me you could turn into a mule."
"...it...never came up?" Shinji hazarded. "I only got the ability this summer anyway."
"Hm...I wonder what else you did this summer that didn't 'come up,'" the girl asked, her smile somewhat lopsided. "Is there anything you want tell me about? Things you didn't mention on the train?"
"Like what?"
"Oh, I don't know," Natsumi said coyly. "You tell me."
"There's nothing, really," Shinji offered, but when his friend didn't seem convinced, amended his statement. "...nothing I feel guilty about?"
In response, Natsumi just reached into her bag and pulled out a folded newspaper.
...a french newspaper, now that he recognized it, with a very familiar picture on it, featuring a certain mule being ridden by two part-Veela, with the beast having a very...unmule-like reaction.
The headline of that particular issue of Les Echoes Magique, translated into something like "International Mule of Mystery?! A Rogue Animagus infiltrates Beauxbatons?!"
"So you don't feel guilty for this?" the brunette questioned, raising an eyebrow.
"Urk...um, no?" Shinji tried to say, only he wasn't very convincing. "Um, where did you get that?"
"Oh, Selina sent some letters over the summer, mostly to Amber, who shared them with me," Natsumi said with an almost frighteningly serene smile. "It was fun, seeing some of the things you got up to. Like visiting the beach and all."
"Heh...ah, heh...well, the French Riviera is famous for its beaches! Shame to visit France and not go, you know?" Shinji replied, his eyes darting back and forth, as if trying to find an escape route - only she was between him and the male dorms.
"Well, that's true," Natsumi allowed. "But you know, since you're a mule, I'm sure Amber will be quite excited."
Shinji tilted his head, not sure what she meant by that.
"After all, she misses going for rides in the morning."
"Um..."
"And being the gentleman you are, I'm sure you don't mind letting her ride around the school a bit?" the brunette inquired, her smile quite devilish. "Unless you only give rides to beautiful french girls..." She glanced down at his crotch, and the boy reddened, remembering the sensations of that evening.
"N-no," he sputtered. "That's...no, no, um, I'll be happy to give her a ride. Really."
"Good, and we look forward to hearing all about your summer soon," Natsumi said as she leaned in and kissed him on the cheek, before heading up to her dorm room, leaving Shinji feeling as if his knees were about to buckle from embarrassment - or that he was about to sink into stone he swore should be molten from how hot he felt.
By the time he managed to move again, most everyone had gone off to their rooms, leaving him more or less alone in the Common Room.
'Peace at last,' he thought to himself, as he padded over to the chair once more and settled in for a bit of light reading on using bits of his soul to amplify spells, or to cleanse himself of foreign spell effects. It really quite ingenious - even if the person who'd written the book had obviously been more than a little mad. After all, who mutilated their own soul for a bit of power?
Before he knew it, an hour had gone by, perhaps more, and he was feeling quite tired.
Still, he thought he might as well check on some of the plants Miyuki-senpai had so carefully tended last year, if only to see how they were doing after a long summer.
With that in mind, he closed his book and made his way to the enclosed garden of Hufflepuff, only to blink as he opened the door and found Momiji Kaede there, humming a wordless melody as she moved glowing fingers over the soil, and over plants that looked slightly brown, as they straightened and greened, with a few whose flowers had wilted blooming again.
He closed the door, shaking his head to clear it. That...she couldn't be there - he must be seeing things from how tired he was.
And sure enough, when he opened the door once more, he found himself alone in a silent room.
There was no Kaede there.
No one singing.
Only the flowers and the herbs blooming.
What will Shinji do the next morning? (choose two)
[ ] Try to wake up early and greet Senpai, so he can give her his present
[ ] Show Kaede the trick to the kitchens, since she should eat before class
[ ] Spend time with Natsumi and Amber
[ ] Meet with Selina, Ernie, and Phelan by the lake for some early morning training
[ ] (write-in)
"You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think." - A.A. Milne
[X] Try to wake up early and greet Senpai, so he can give her his present
[X] Spend time with Natsumi and Amber
Priorities, plain and simple. The two people that he has not seen yet.
[x] Try to wake up early and greet Senpai, so he can give her his present.
[x] Spend time with Natsumi and Amber.
Didn't go as expected. Oh well. Time for reuniting with Senpai and Amber I guess.
Last edited by Daiki; January 22nd, 2019 at 01:41 AM.
[x] Try to wake up early and greet Senpai, so he can give her his present.
[x] Spend time with Natsumi and Amber.
[x]Try to wake up early and greet Sempai, so he can give her his present
[x]Spend time with Natsumi and Amber
[X] Try to wake up early and greet Senpai, so he can give her his present
[X] Spend time with Natsumi and Amber
Chapter 4. Close Encounters of the Fifth Kind
Alas, no matter how pleasant riding the Hogwarts Express was and speaking to his friends about the many adventures he’d been on during the summer, all good things came to an end, meaning that Matou Shinji had to go out into the hallway with Phelan, Ernie, and Ron to change into their rather plain school robes, whereas Luna, Ginny, and Natsumi used the compartment to change.
‘I never had to worry about this around Selina,’ the boy grumbled in his mind, though given that he was around Ernie and Phelan, who both seemed mad about the blonde, he knew better than to say this aloud, especially since the two would surely get the wrong idea.
In and of itself, their reactions might be amusing, but the problem was that if Phelan and Ernie got the wrong idea, well…that wrong idea might end up spreading to Amber and Natsumi, and from there to Senpai, and then he’d really in trouble.
So he endured the mild inconvenience as he pulled on the robes, wondering, not for the first time, why Hogwarts didn’t go in for something more…colorful, instead of just using black.
‘Then again, from what I’ve seen, British clothing is as bland as British food…’ he groused silently. How could it be that just on one side of the English Channel, there could be a magical nation which believed in color and taste, and on the other…there was Britain? ‘I just hope that the Welcome Feast isn’t as…unappetizing as it usually is.’
Not that he had anything against potatoes and meat, but just…the sheer amount that was served, that was wasted, really bothered him, especially as everything was just roasted or boiled and slathered with butter.
It was basically a heart attack waiting to happen.
‘With this kind of diet, it’s not a surprise Professor Slughorn is so…generously proportioned,’ he thought to himself. The real surprise was that all the other teachers seemed to be of a reasonable weight – or at least, he thought they were. The billowing, voluminous robes they wore covered up a great deal, now that he thought about it.
Frankly, the thought of needing such robes to conceal a massive gut...well, it sat ill with him, making the boy wonder if perhaps he should just turn into a mule and fill his belly with grass on the way to the castle.
…or if perhaps he could prevail on the House Elves to give him a small bowl of oats instead of a decadently large portion of roast, or a heaping pile of chicken his stomach would never be able to handle.
‘Or if there is some kind of spell that would let me chop up and blend herbs together, maybe I could put some in a drink and just have that for breakfast. It’s not as if I get much fruit with a Hogwarts diet anyway…’
Just meat, meat, meat, and yes, more meat.
…and that disgusting brew called pumpkin juice, which he considered unfit for human consumption.
‘Though since some of the eating habits of people in the Great Hall remind me of pigs, maybe it isn’t meant for human consumption,’ he thought unkindly.
Sure, Quirrell often said that size mattered not, but he was talking about the size of one’s wand, not…how fat someone was!
He supposed Magical Britain might have been a bit out of touch from modern culture, but it wasn’t hundreds of years ago anymore, where being fat was an indicator that one was prosperous and healthy. In a place like Hogwarts, where one didn’t have to worry about “affording” food, it just made one look undisciplined – weak against the temptations of the flesh, something that he, thankfully was resistant towards.
…at least when it came to food.
Still, as much as he might have continued to stew about such things, the train pulling into the station meant that he had little time to do so, and so, he stepped off the train with his luggage, like everyone else around him.
Following the flow as he was, he nearly ended up walking along with the first years, only to stop short as someone stopped right in front of him, with the boy just barely keeping himself from running into the individual and bowling…her over.
And it was definitely a her, he could tell, as the girl in question turned towards him.
‘She’s…Japanese,’ was the only thought in his mind, as dark eyes set in a face framed by flowing black hair regarded him impassively, her delicate features betraying no trace of emotion at all.
Before he could say anything, the girl turned away and walked off, leaving him wondering what that was all about.
He was about to follow and ask, when he heard someone calling his name.
“Matou, you’re going the wrong way,” Phelan was saying, with the boy starting as he realized that the Earl’s son of all people, was calling him out. “We’re second years now, remember? Only first years take the boats.”
“Oh,” was all the boy could say to that, as he shook his head and turned in the direction the Gryffindor had indicated. “Thanks,” he said as he fell into step beside the boy.
“Don’t mention it,” the young noble replied generously. “Want to share a carriage? We could talk a bit more about summer stuff.”
“I’ll think about it,” Shinji answered, only for Phelan to raise an eyebrow.
“What’s there to think about?” Phelan asked, though even as he did, a shadow crept over his features. “…don’t tell me you’d rather sit with my sister?”
Shinji, not wanting to offend the boisterous Gryffindor, said nothing, instead speeding up his steps so he pulled ahead and away.
“Hey, wait up!” the Earl’s son called out, but the boy wasn’t about to wait, letting his feet carry him towards the clearing where the carriages waited, as—
“What are those?” he found himself asking, with Phelan, who was in something of a hurry, slamming into him from behind and knocking him over. “Do you mind?” he said irascibly, as he dusted himself off, annoyed that now his robes were stained with dirt.
“What was that for?”
“Why’d you just stop like that?” Phelan asked in turn.
The boy gestured to the sight in the clearing in front of them: bone-white carriages pulled by skeletal, black-winged horses.
“That,” Shinji said emphatically.
“You mean…carriages without horses?” Phelan questioned, seeming rather confused. “I mean, we’re at a magical school, Matou. And the boats last year steered and moved by themselves too, so…”
“…you don’t see them?” the Japanese boy asked incredulously. “They’re right there.”
“What is right there?” the Earl’s son questioned, feeling a bit put out that his…friend was insisting on this charade of pretending something was in front of them.
“You’re telling me you can’t see the skeletal horses with jet black wings?” Shinji spelled out, his face a mask of disbelief that Phelan would continue to gainsay him. “Are you being serious, or…?”
“…did you hit your head, Matou?” Phelan asked, now seeming somewhat concerned. “All I see are carriages. Not…whatever strange things you think you’re seeing.”
“Thestrals,” a voice supplied, with the Earl’s son almost jumping back as he saw Selina Moore walk up to the edge of the clearing, with a girl who looked very much like her by her side. Both of them had odd looks on their face. “He’s seeing thestrals.”
“They can only be seen by people who have seen death,” the other girl – Lily de Lune – said gently, with Phelan’s expression becoming rather chagrined.
“Ah,” the Earl’s son uttered, realizing that he’d been the one in the wrong – and that Selina had seen him being so vehemently so. He bowed to Matou. “My apologies for doubting you, my friend.”
Shinji just waved the apology off, even as he digested the new piece of information that Lily had given him.
“…only seen by those who have seen death, huh?” he echoed.
“That’s right,” Selina confirmed.
“I see,” Shinji noted softly, shaking his head. That would explain some things, he imagined.
“Shall we?” Selina asked, gesturing to the carriages, with Shinji initially moving to join her, though he thought better of it – after he’d stowed his luggage on one of the carriages.
“Actually, I need some time to think,” he said, hopping off the carriage.
“…you’re not going to walk to the castle, are you?” Lily questioned, a touch of concern in her voice.
“…rather than walk, I think I’m going to trot,” he responded, a response that provoked a confused ‘Huh’ from Phelan right before Shinji turned into a mule and proceeded to trot to the front of the column that would soon be headed to Hogwarts, drawing a few gasps and murmur from the occupants of the carriages he passed.
Perhaps it should have been obvious to him that his actions would cause a stir, given how few animagi there were in Britain, but the boy didn’t particularly care, and so took the opportunity to be alone with his thoughts.
That Matou Shinji could become a mule was only one of the items people would talk about that night, however, given some of the other things on people’s minds, such as the fact that Rubeus Hagrid would re-starting at Hogwarts this year as a third year, or that there were several exchange students. Even having one was rare at the best of times, and two…that was unprecedented.
There was also the usual speculation on who would become the Headmaster or Headmistress, as one had not yet been appointed by the Board of Governors, a cause of some concern for a number of students, and the usual wondering – and betting – on what notables would be assigned to what houses, as well as the surprise that Quirinus Quirrell was still the Defense Professor, since no one else had lasted more than a year in…decades.
It was perhaps not a huge surprise when Rubeus Hagrid, who is continuing his education after a long period...away, was sorted into Hufflepuff (which was one of the two likely bets, as no one thought he would become a Ravenclaw, and only a few thought he might become a Slytherin), or when Lily de Lune, the exchange student from Beauxbatons, was sorted in Slytherin, as some had seen her in the presence of Selina Moore.
Perhaps more surprising, however, was how a member of the Weasley family was sorted into Slytherin, as was her friend, the enigmatic Luna Lovegood. Such an event scandalized a good many across the school - and caused more than a little money to change hands, given that for as long as there had been Weasleys at Hogwarts, they had all been sorted into Gryffindor.
As such, that the youngest Weasley would join that self-same house had been regarded as the very safest of bets...until now.
At that particular realization, more than one young person let out an expletive, either muffled or...in quite an explosive fashion, as no one who wasn't a Malfoy had that many Galleons to spare, and losing even one because of a Weasley of all people...
That was why no one really paid attention to the fact that there had been yet another student from Japan this year, one Momiji Kaede, who was sorted into Hufflepuff, a somewhat shy seeming girl whose head Natsumi's sparrow seemed to like perching on.
As she had slipped silently into the seat beside him, her dark eyes looking over the Great Hall with a rather disinterested air, Matou Shinji felt it was his responsibility to make her feel welcome. After all, he was sure that senpai would do the same in his place - no, she had done the same, hadn't she, given that Natsumi had mentioned Miyuki-senpai talking with Momiji-san.
"Welcome," he said, to which the girl simply turned to him, her expression utterly blank. "I'm glad you came to Hufflepuff."
"Why?" the girl questioned, her frank, emotionless voice taking the boy aback.
"...would you rather speak in Japanese?" Shinji asked in his mother tongue, thinking that the more familiar language might help make the newcomer feel more comfortable. "I know that I wasn't too confident with my English when I first came here. And I studied in Britain before too."
"It makes little difference, Matou Shinji," the raven-haired girl replied in Japanese, though accented in a way he was unfamiliar with. At least, it wasn't Tokyo-ben or Kansai-ben. "Whatever tongue you speak, you remain just as strange."
The boy blinked, momentarily wondering how it was that she knew his name before he realized that Miyuki-senpai must have mentioned him to the girl. Her accent though, that...
"You are...from Hokkaido?" he guessed, switching back to English, as she had said it didn't matter.
And yet as she spoke, her preference seemed to make itself clear.
"Hokkaido?" she repeated slowly, before nodding. "Yes. Hokkaido is where I am from."
Shinji frowned at this, though he quickly banished the expression from his face, as he didn't want the first year to think he was frowning because of her. Or at her, even if her discomfort with English...reminded him of how he had been when he'd first come here.
"Are you tired?" he asked, in Japanese this time.
"You ask many questions," she observed in the same language, eyeing him eerily.
"...not too many, I hope?" the boy noted hopefully, hiding a wince as he hoped he wasn't annoying her. Only a few sentences in and already he was being a terrible senpai.
The girl's lack of response said more than even the most biting comment would have, with Shinji feeling rather hurt as she returned to looking around, though she seemed more interested in how Natsumi's sparrow fluttered out to hand as she stretched it out.
"You're good with birds," Natsumi observed.
"I am simply used to them," Kaede murmured, a wordless whistling leaving her lips in the next moment as the bird took flight. "As they are used to me."
"Oh?" Shinji found himself asking. "They're...used to you?"
"Yes," was the only response he received to that - and the last he would receive during dinner, though oddly, the boy noticed that Kaede didn't really seem to eat.
After dinner, the students were dismissed to head to their dormitories, as the first years needed to learn where their new homes were, and everyone else needed a chance to socialize and learn their schedules for the rest of the year. It was largely the usual routine, so Shinji made a beeline for the couches, thinking that this year, he could avoid the issue of...inanely socializing with everyone and everything.
As Shinji eased himself into an overstuffed chair by the Common Room's fireplace after dinner, opening up the much-read book on Soul Magic he had studied with Selina over the summer, he found himself thinking about what things had been like during his first year, when in truth, he'd been very much alone, with only Miyuki-senpai and Natsumi helping to make the transition something...that wasn't painful. Well, less painful than it otherwise might have been anyway, though it wasn't an entirely painless process.
Nothing really was, when all was said and done.
Over the year, things had changed for the better, and now he even had friends outside of Hufflepuff. And people who were more than friends, like Selina who he considered more a sister than a friend, and Amber who...well, whatever she was to him.
Since he'd already built up so many social connections, he didn't really see the need to engage in the usual ritual of small talk with unimportant people, since everyone he'd wanted to talk to he'd either seen on the train or would see in private later, unlike loudmouths like Zacharias Smith who thought that using up all the oxygen in the room translated to making friends.
The first years though - he could see how they needed to socialize, since none of them knew each other yet, their enthusiasm and curiosity providing a nice bit of background noise for his reading.
Only...as he tried to concentrate on the book of forbidden magic in his lap, he found his eyes being drawn to a first year who stood apart from the crowd: the dark-eyed, dark-haired beauty named Momiji Kaede.
'This won't do,' he thought, closing his book and getting out of his seat as he walked over to her.
"Shouldn't you be talking to some of the others?" he asked as he approached her.
"You," she observed tonelessly.
"Yes, me," Shinji replied with a smile. "Who else would I be, after all?" he quipped.
His remark failed to elicit much of a reaction from the girl, however, as she simply looked past him, her gaze slowly taking in the room, but not the people.
'The plants...she's looking at all of the plants...'
His suspicions were confirmed when she paused to stare at the door leading to the garden.
"...see something you like?" he asked.
"The plants here are well-cared for," Kaede murmured, her voice almost...wistful, showing a sign of emotion for the first time.
"Hufflepuff is the House that most respects nature," the boy stated. "And as for the gardens, Miyuki-senpai spends much of her time there." He smiled slightly, though there was a slight hint of pain in his expression. "Sometimes I think she likes plants more than people."
Kaede just looked at him as if he'd said something incredibly obvious.
"People are confusing," the Japanese girl observed. "Loud. Dishonest. Full of Contradictions. Always in a rush. Always..."
"...well, true, if you speak of the British," Shinji joked - in Japanese, so no one would else would understand him. "Especially at feasts - I don't know why they eat so quickly or fight over food. There's always enough, even if it is too heavy."
But the girl shook her head.
"I speak of people," she corrected. "Plants are...simpler. Easier to understand."
"They are?"
"They are honest. Patient. Present. Always in the moment."
"I'm not sure they see time as people do," Shinji observed thoughtfully.
"They don't," Kaede murmured, seeming utterly certain of her words. For a moment, the boy thought he was beginning to understand her, but then... "Good night."
With that, she turned to go, heading up to the dormitories, alone.
'What a confusing girl,' he thought as he watched her go.
"A dinner and a chat and you're already head over heels for a new girl?" a voice questioned from behind him, with Shinji turning with a start to see a mischievously smiling Natsumi. "Aren't Amber and I enough for you?"
"Um, uh..."
"Kidding," the brunette quipped, with the boy feeling like he'd dodged a point-blank blasting curse. "It's fun teasing you like that."
"Is it? Not from where I'm standing."
"Oh, you know, it all depends on your certain point of view," Natsumi said, as if quoting from something. Then a hint of something else entered her voice. "So, you never told me you could turn into a mule."
"...it...never came up?" Shinji hazarded. "I only got the ability this summer anyway."
"Hm...I wonder what else you did this summer that didn't 'come up,'" the girl asked, her smile somewhat lopsided. "Is there anything you want tell me about? Things you didn't mention on the train?"
"Like what?"
"Oh, I don't know," Natsumi said coyly. "You tell me."
"There's nothing, really," Shinji offered, but when his friend didn't seem convinced, amended his statement. "...nothing I feel guilty about?"
In response, Natsumi just reached into her bag and pulled out a folded newspaper.
...a french newspaper, now that he recognized it, with a very familiar picture on it, featuring a certain mule being ridden by two part-Veela, with the beast having a very...unmule-like reaction.
The headline of that particular issue of Les Echoes Magique, translated into something like "International Mule of Mystery?! A Rogue Animagus infiltrates Beauxbatons?!"
"So you don't feel guilty for this?" the brunette questioned, raising an eyebrow.
"Urk...um, no?" Shinji tried to say, only he wasn't very convincing. "Um, where did you get that?"
"Oh, Selina sent some letters over the summer, mostly to Amber, who shared them with me," Natsumi said with an almost frighteningly serene smile. "It was fun, seeing some of the things you got up to. Like visiting the beach and all."
"Heh...ah, heh...well, the French Riviera is famous for its beaches! Shame to visit France and not go, you know?" Shinji replied, his eyes darting back and forth, as if trying to find an escape route - only she was between him and the male dorms.
"Well, that's true," Natsumi allowed. "But you know, since you're a mule, I'm sure Amber will be quite excited."
Shinji tilted his head, not sure what she meant by that.
"After all, she misses going for rides in the morning."
"Um..."
"And being the gentleman you are, I'm sure you don't mind letting her ride around the school a bit?" the brunette inquired, her smile quite devilish. "Unless you only give rides to beautiful French girls..." She glanced down at his crotch, and the boy reddened, remembering the sensations of that evening.
"N-no," he sputtered. "That's...no, no, um, I'll be happy to give her a ride. Really."
"Good, and we look forward to hearing all about your summer soon," Natsumi said as she leaned in and kissed him on the cheek, before heading up to her dorm room, leaving Shinji feeling as if his knees were about to buckle from embarrassment - or that he was about to sink into stone he swore should be molten from how hot he felt.
By the time he managed to move again, most everyone had gone off to their rooms, leaving him more or less alone in the Common Room.
'Peace at last,' he thought to himself, as he padded over to the chair once more and settled in for a bit of light reading on using bits of his soul to amplify spells, or to cleanse himself of foreign spell effects. It really quite ingenious - even if the person who'd written the book had obviously been more than a little mad. After all, who mutilated their own soul for a bit of power?
Before he knew it, an hour had gone by, perhaps more, and he was feeling quite tired.
Still, he thought he might as well check on some of the plants Miyuki-senpai had so carefully tended last year, if only to see how they were doing after a long summer.
With that in mind, he closed his book and made his way to the enclosed garden of Hufflepuff, only to blink as he opened the door and found Momiji Kaede there, humming a wordless melody as she moved glowing fingers over the soil, and over plants that looked slightly brown, as they straightened and greened, with a few whose flowers had wilted blooming again.
He closed the door, shaking his head to clear it. That...she couldn't be there - he must be seeing things from how tired he was.
And sure enough, when he opened the door once more, he found himself alone in a silent room.
There was no Kaede there.
No one singing.
Only the flowers and the herbs blooming.
Miyuki accepts the gift, and presents him with a silver dagger, something that the boy feels honored to receive. At the same time, the gift worries him on some level, given that people didn't usually just give blades to one another, as that signified a cutting of bonds.
'Sempai, you're not going away...are you?' he wondered, but he couldn't find the courage to ask, afraid of what the answer might be.
What does he ask her instead?
[ ] About her summer
[ ] About the exchange student
[ ] Her plans for the year, since she can go to Hogsmeade now
[ ] (write-in)
Natsumi suggests they meet for breakfast in the Kitchens, so they can enjoy some time alone.
[ ] Accept the suggestion
[ ] Ask if an adventure would be preferable instead
[ ] (write-in)
"You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think." - A.A. Milne
[x]About the exchange student
[x]Accept the suggestion
[X] About her summer
[x] Accept the suggestion
[X] About her summer
[X] Accept the suggestion
[X] About her summer
[X] Accept the suggestion
What does he ask her instead? [x] About her summer
Breakfast in the Kitchens? [x] Accept the suggestion
"The summer?" Miyuki echoed, with Shinji nodding.
"Yes senpai," he confirmed, his expression wry. "I've been to Mahoutokoro before, but only once," he reminded her. It was, after all, where he had obtained his wand, a custom creation made with wood from the Great Tree...and a Grail-tainted Crest worm as a core. And while it was true that he had a second wand he could rely on these days - the Olive wand that Sokaris had gifted him, he would always remember the process of gaining his first wand - and his encounter with some of the stranger denizens of the City Under Earth. "What was it like, spending the summer there?"
"It was...productive," the raven-haired girl related. Briefly, she sketched out the things she had been involved with at the Japanese school, from potions masterclasses and herbology work with one Sajyou Ayaka, to getting an introduction to onmyoudou from a young man named Kaizuka Mitsune.
"...sometimes called kitsune?" Shinji hazarded, if only to distract himself from the thought of another boy spending so much time with senpai.
"Apparently so, though I saw no tails, so I am unsure if he was a youkai," the older girl confirmed. Miyuki paused for a moment. "You should ask Natsumi and Amber about their summers - they had much more free time and could share with you what they thought of the City."
"But I want to hear about you, senpai. What you learned, what you saw, what you experienced...everything," Shinji said breathlessly, and perhaps with a bit too much intensity. "Were you studying the entire time or...?"
"I did go on an excursion to Hokkaido, where Sajyou-san showed me a number of rare plants and tested my ability to survive in the wilderness," the older Hufflepuff admitted. "I am...unsure if you would have enjoyed the experience."
"Why?"
"Matou, do you know how to cook?" she asked.
The question threw Shinji for a loop, as no one had every asked him that before.
"...does it count if I know how to boil water for ramen?" he replied, trading a question for a question - and hoping that Miyuki-senpai would at least be amused by his answer.
But "No. That does not count," was Miyuki's answer. "We made our way through the forests and grasslands, foraging along the way, with Sajyou-san pointing out edible plants and the two of us making dinner from such ingredients each night."
"J-just the two of you? Isn't that dangerous?"
"Perhaps," the older Hufflepuff admitted. "But facing such danger is something of a rite of passage in the East."
"Oh," Shinji uttered. "And...you succeeded, right, senpai?"
"...yes," was her response.
"I'm glad."
"Are you?"
"Why wouldn't I be?" Shinji asked guilelessly. "Senpai is amazing, and its good that other people can see it."
"You give me too much credit, Matou. I am simply a person finding her way through the world, like anyone else."
"No, not like anyone else! Senpai is senpai, not anyone else!" the boy insisted. "Irreplaceable."
At that, Tsuji Miyuki raised an eyebrow.
"That did not appear to be the case from the letters that Amber Noel received," the raven-haired girl replied mildly. "From the pictures, you seemed to be enjoying yourself."
"I..." but the boy's voice trailed off, as he felt a surge of shame. "Yes, but it wasn't the same without you, senpai. It would have been wonderful if you had been there."
"Perhaps," the older girl conceded. The two stood together in a companionable silence as Miyuki tended to her plants, paying special attention to the tea she was cultivating.
"...can I work with you in the greenhouse again this year?" Shinji found himself asking, hoping that the older Hufflepuff wasn't upset with him for some reason. "I...I would really like to learn more about Herbology, senpai, and I think working with you..."
"Is there a reason you wish to work on Herbology, and not some other discipline?"
"Well, um, you can do amazing things with it, senpai, so it must be good!" he answered earnestly, to which Tsuji Miyuki smiled, a distant, almost sad smile.
"You should not use what I do as a measure of what you will enjoy," she cautioned.
"But you enjoy it, senpai!" Shinji protested.
"If you insist, I will not stop you, Matou," the raven-haired girl relented. "Just know that you may not be the only one I work with in the greenhouse."
Shinji felt a stab of ice-cold fear in his gut.
"You...you don't mean..."
She wouldn't be working with Nigel, would she? Or...
"I will be working on a collaboration with Momiji Kaede," the girl spoke, her words banishing his fear. "She is not good with..."
"...with people?" Shinji wondered.
"With living," was the confusing response.
As it happened, breakfast with Natsumi and Amber was a much more tasty affair than the Welcome Feast had been for Shinji, given that tea and sweets made for a much more delightful meal than all sorts of fried meats early in the morning. Amber of course, talked about her time wandering Mahoutokoro and her encounters with a number of odd shopkeepers, from the strange proprietor of Asplund's Shop of Horrors to a reclusive, anti-social bookstore owner named Toroi Surein.
"Huh. I know him," Shinji remarked of the latter. "Or at least, I met him once."
"He isn't the happiest man in the world," Amber noted. "Very lonely - but then, both of them are." She frowned then, recalling something. "By the way, Asplund said something about being Fes-ranked before he left Britain. Do you know what he meant by that?"
Shinji blinked.
Certainly, he knew of a rank called Fes, but...that was a rank at the Clock Tower.
"A little above middle-ranked," the boy explained, hiding a frown. "Fes is the fourth of seven ranks in...an association of practitioners."
Grand, of course, was the highest, though very few people could lay claim to that, with Frame being the lowest, and Fes - or Festival - being in the middle. That is, it was often given to mature magi without any outstanding powers. A purely average magus usually never rose above Cause.
"An association of practitioners?" Amber echoed. "Outside the magical nations, you mean?"
"...yes," Shinji replied, thinking of how to explain it. "Think of it like...a university?" If a university had some degree of military might, managed patents, and engaged in diplomatic relations with other great factions, anyway.
"Huh. I didn't know there were any in the wizarding world," Amber noted with interest. "Is your family part of this association?"
"...you could say that," Shinji answered, not really sure how much more would be safe to share. "My grandfather was, anyway. They are...they have very high standards."
That was, one had to have circuits and be able to do nature interference magecraft to be accepted into their company.
"Not your parents?"
"...I don't really want to talk about...them," he said, shaking his head. "Anyway, its not worth thinking about the Association for now."
"The association?" Natsumi echoed. "I thought you said the Fes-rank was just a title for one association, not that there was only one association..."
"Um, yeah. Its not worth thinking about Associations, I mean, since we're all still in school," he said, trying to cover for his slipup, though Amber didn't seem entirely convinced.
"You know others from this group though," she said. It wasn't really a guess.
"...yes," he admitted. "The person who first brought me to Mahoutokoro used to be part of it. She was Grand-ranked too, and was one of the greatest practitioners in the world."
"Oh?" Amber questioned. "Was she...one of the people who ran Mahoutokoro?"
"No," Shinji responded. "She's...she makes things. Like Selina does, only far more intricate."
"What's her name?"
"Aozaki Touko," Shinji answered readily. "Her sister is powerful too, but...much scarier."
"How much scarier?"
"...well, you know how we learned about Lord Voldemort?" Shinji asked.
"Yeah?"
"Her sister is as far beyond Voldemort as Voldemort is beyond a first year in destructive power," the boy related, with Natsumi seeming rather taken aback by this.
"How...how can there be someone so dangerous in the world?"
And more to the point, how could someone like that exist without any of them having heard about her? Surely, if such a person existed, they would all know of her...
"I don't know the full story myself," Shinji admitted, "but in the case of people like this, sometimes its safer not to know."
What does he talk about with them?
[ ] His time at Beauxbatons
[ ] Crafting with Selina
[ ] Soul Magic
[ ] What they found best about Mahoutokoro
[ ] (write-in)
"You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think." - A.A. Milne
[x]What they found best about Mahoutokoro
[X] His time at Beauxbatons
I voted for Mahoutokoro because the two of them should have some ideas on what his summer was like from the postcards Shinj and Selina sent. Shinji asking about what they liked best would allow him to know what they found interesting and their perspective on experiencing a new magical culture outside from Britain.
[X] His time at Beauxbatons
[x] His time at Beauxbatons.
Elephant in the room first, I guess.
[X] His time at Beauxbatons
As someone raised in a magus family, Matou Shinji knew that some things were better not shared at all - or if one had to speak of them, then the less shared the better. With other things, however, like what he had done in the summer, perhaps full disclosure was a better course of action. At least then his friends wouldn't be operating off of a decidedly slanted bit of information (i.e. Selina's letters and photographs).
"Speaking of the full story," he said, an awkward segue at best, but then, he was only twelve and thus not expected to be a grand orator, "I suppose you'd like to know what I was up to this summer."
"Oh, I have some idea," Amber replied, though her voice was perhaps bit more...clipped than usual, with a tinge of frostiness to it. "Lady Selina sent me letters. You, however...."
"I'm...sorry?" Shinji offered. "I...I had other things on my mind. There was a lot to do this summer."
"Clearly." If anything, the copper-haired girl seemed even frostier than before. "Things like Selina in her swimsuit, of course. Or giving rides to beautiful french girls - which you obviously enjoyed."
"Um...I...what do you mean, Selina in her swimsuit?" the boy asked, somewhat confused.
Amber sniffed, producing a single photograph from her pocket - one that featured Shinji at the beach, with a swimsuit-clad Selina holding onto him from behind, her head resting on his shoulder, and the hazy sunset sky in the distance.
The boy's eyes went wide.
"W-where did you get that?" he blurted out before he could help himself, as Amber just looked at him as if he was an idiot.
"Where do you think?" the copper-haired girl asked with a sniff.
Shinji blinked.
"...then, she didn't send you the other pictures?" he asked.
"Other pictures?"
"Yeah, we took a lot of them that day, Selina, Lily and I," the boy babbled. "Selina made me - insisted that we should have some memories of our time together!"
"Your time together?" Amber repeated tonelessly.
"You know..." Shinji said, groping for words. "She's...she's like the sister I never had. Spending time with her...it felt like...being with family. In a good way."
"But I thought you had a sister?" Natsumi interjected, confused.
Shinji felt a lance of white-hot rage race through his head at the mention of the adopted Tohsaka.
"I don't consider that waste of oxygen a sister," the boy snapped, his features cruel and cold, his eyes flashing red in the dim light.
"Matou-kun..." Natsumi whispered worriedly, with the boy realizing where he was as he closed his eyes, focusing on the strands of his soul that were quivering with fury and soothing them, forcing them back into the tapestry of his self before the darkness inside him could fully take hold. "Are you--"
"Like I said, I don't consider her asister," Shinji stated as he opened his eyes. "Not when she stole everything from me. The poor, pitiful girl whose family threw her away, who wormed her way into mine. She's no sister of mine."
"And Selina is?" Amber asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes," Shinji said frankly. "We get along. We share interests. We respect one another. It's...nice being around her, even if her skills intimidate me a bit." Her social skills most, but yes, her crafting abilities as well. "We're a good match. She's...I can trust her with things." Things like dealing with the darkness inside of him, and the forbidden arts that helped him to put himself back together.
"With...things?" Natsumi echoed.
"...certain kinds of magic I probably shouldn't talk about too much when others are listening," the boy said, glancing around suspiciously. Luckily, none of the house elves seemed to be paying attention at the moment.
"Oh, like the book you were reading from last night?" Natsumi questioned.
"Yes, exac--" The boy's mouth shut with a click. "...I hope you didn't tell anyone about it?"
"Matou-kun, I don't do things like that," she said reprovingly. "I'm a good girl."
"...Nats, I'll grant that you might act like one on occasion, but..." Amber trailed off.
Natsumi stuck out her tongue, with Amber shaking her head and chuckling.
"So then, Matou," Amber asked. "If Selina is like the sister you never had...then what are Natsumi and I to you?"
How does Matou Shinji answer?
[ ] (write-in)
"You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think." - A.A. Milne
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