| First Impressions and the Judo Three | ||
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The bell signaling the end of the school lessons day interrupts the lemur and some students are already in a hurry to get things together to leave. She raises her voice. "Remember to do the mid-chapter quiz in your textbooks for your homework and show. Your. Proof. Longhand, please. Enjoy your clubs, everyone, and I'll see you again tomorrow. My office will be open for the next hour if anybody has questions." Students at the end of a schoolday form a force to be reckoned with and not even a seasoned teacher can easily stem that flow. The young students are abuzz with talk on evening plans -- many of which involve the extracurricular clubs -- or just conversational gossip in general. Mimasaka gathers her things into a briefcase while quite a few students in the class hurriedly make to exit. Already the halls outside are filled with students and chatter. Nina does her best to focus on what the teacher is saying and makes a quick note for herself before gathering her things and starting to head out of the classroom with the rest of her classmates. It wasn't easy for her, not only starting at a new school, but also having had a significant gap of time between now and when she last attended school back in Anima City, but she's giving it her all, her dad would be proud if he knew. As she heads out of the classroom though, she is a bit more aimless than most of the other students, as she has yet to decide on which clubs to join, feeling that many of them she wouldn't really be any good at the activity they are based around, at least, not while staying in her dolphin form in the case of the more physical clubs. She ultimately heads outside to get some fresh air where she can relax a bit, and maybe give it all a bit more thought. Lively and cheerful. That best describes the atmosphere of the school. No matter the time of year, there is a sense of togetherness, happiness, and safety that defines Cherryton Academy. Were one to look at how well all of the different animals get along without knowing the history of the land or seeing the ruined and bruised society that lives in tatters across the country, one might think this place a paradise. For the young and impressionable, there's a reason this school is considered the best of the best. For Nina, this includes not only the scholarship to stay and learn there, but also special accommodations afforded by the Animals United grant and the nation's desire to increase their interaction and integration with Seas. Sadly, the school does not have a Swim Club. Yet. The brisk air and warm sun of the turning season gifts those stepping out into the open afternoon a bit of clarity. A few blooms offer a sweet scent drifting along in a slow breeze and the sky is clear enough to allow a majestic overlook of the city and the bay. Yet, for all of the positivity and energetic resolution as people mill around and filter off into different directions, Nina's passing through a set of doors leading outside is accompanied by a close brush by an individual staring wistfully off in the direction of the auditorium and drama classrooms where the Drama Club now gathers. It's a large brown bear. Like every other student, he wears a school uniform. Nearly every other student in sight has at least one friend, many multiple, yet not this student. In fact, most give him a wide berth. Peculiar. His face looks friendly enough, if tired and maybe a touch melancholy. No swim club indeed, though she supposes if it did the other students would have about as much a disadvantage against her as she would in joining the basketball club. At least swimming in the bay was always an option when she felt the urge. Nina smiles as she feels the cool spring breeze on her skin as she steps outside. She hadn't taken notice of the bear student while in the halls, though as he brushes past her she wonders how she could have missed him. Noting that he, like her, is alone, she smiles and offers a wave with her right flipper-like hand. "Hello, nice day to be outside isn't it?" She states, making small talk. The bear turns to look, then lowers his gaze to fall upon the dolphin girl, and his expression slightly, albeit briefly, changes. He must be the only student in the school surprised to see a 'Sea Animal'. "Well, that's not something you see every day," he says with a gentle depth. There's a pause as he adjusts the bag held in one arm before he opens his mouth to speak an actual greeting, but the doors nearby push open with willful exuberance and three Herbivore girls quickly rush out. Well, two rush out and one tries to play catch-up. A goat, a sheep, and a llama all but interject themselves between the bear and the dolphin. The sheep even bravely reaches out to push the bear's bag aside; it slips free of the student's grip and falls to the ground allowing a couple of books to fall free. "Whoops, gotta be careful. Small animals have a right to space, too!" In this, Nina finds herself the target of intervention as the trio try to quickly steer her away with whispers. "Girl, what are you doing? Come with us." "Wow, that was a close one." "I h-hope you didn't make him angry, but at l-l-least she's safe." Nina is distracted as the doors open, but not so much that she doesn't notice one of the girls push the bear's bag causing it to fall and spill. That certainly didn't look like an accident from her perspective. She looks confused as the girls try to whisk her away from the bear. "Make him angry? I just said hi, and he calmly spoke back to me before you rudely made him drop his bag. Maybe you should apologize if you're so worried about him getting angry." Nina comments on the situation as she saw it, not at all fearful or intimidated by the bear despite being much smaller. "Look, I'm Eni, your upper classman. This is Lonnie and that's Feo." Lonnie the Llama is the one with a stutter. "Feo says she's in your second class," says the sheep girl. "You have to trust me. Us. We can talk, but it's gotta be over there. C'mon." She looks very stern about this, but it's not exactly malice in her eyes. If anything, she's hiding some fear. There are other large Carnivores at school, of course, and some Herbivores that are even larger than the bear, but the way the three act concerning this one is very pointed. Technically, while Nina is new, she's been to school longer than the bear has even though the bear is much older. Or at least looks like a Senior. Still, that means that the bear is the sheep's upper classman? The bear sets about picking up his books and doesn't exactly look mad. If anything, he goes about it as if this is nothing new and it's perfectly normal occurrence. The goat leans in, face strained as she speaks softly, and her voice very nearly cracks, "Don't you know who that is?!" The trio look to Nina expectingly. Something's not right here. Nina doesn't know what this is all about, but these girls seem quite insistent to get her away from the bear, that much is clear. Still, she turns toward Riz for a moment with an apologetic expression as she mouths 'Sorry' to him. She then turns back to the herbivore girls, it was as if they were afraid he was going to devour her at any moment, but she hasn't seen a single act of aggression from the carnivores at the school since she started, it seemed far more peaceful than her home city, that's for sure. "I don't get what you've got to say say that you can only say over there and not here, and no, I don't know who that is, first time I've seen him, maybe he was about to tell me before you showed up?" Nina responds without a hint of apprehension. Eni presses fingers to the bridge of her snout with a sigh. Lonnie bunches up her fists and holds them to her chest in anxiety. Feo simply lowers her gaze and bites her lip. "N-no, there's no way we c-c-could talk near him. He's..." Eni shakes her head. "No, Lon. I'll say it." She sounds a little angry, even. "Look, uh, what was your name again? Mina?" "Nina," corrects Feo the Angora Goat. "Right. Nina. There's no way to put this gently. Stay away from that bear. He's a murderer. Ate one of the Herbivores and spent time locked away because of it. But now for some reason he's allowed to come back. That stupid Animals United thing opened the door for that monster to come back to school and nobody knows why the Headmaster okayed it." "Rumor has it the CEO for Horns has dirt on him. He used to go to school here, too. Sabrina said she heard Louis arguing with Gon in his office pretty loudly the day before," says Feo quietly. Lonnie looks increasingly nervous, but it has something to do with her glances toward the bear even if he's not paying attention. Nina's eyes suddenly grow wide at the statement that the bear is a murderer that ate one of the students, but then, why would he be allowed to come back, that seemed insane to her. "Well uh... that clears things up a bit..." She says with her voice lowering to a faint whisper. She could only assume these girls were telling the truth, as this was not the sort of thing she'd expect anyone with any sense of decency to make up stories about, but just in case this was an unsubstantiated rumor she planned to get a second opinion later. At this point though she does allow the girls to lead her away from the bear. "Thanks for letting me know..." "Oh- Oh no!" exclaims Lonnie, as if perhaps the bear were suddenly upon them. It gives the other two a start. "We're going to be late for Judo Club!" she says, stutter temporarily nonexistent. There's a gasp. "Oh...damn it! If we're late, Madoka-sensei will be so mad." And, just like that, Eni and Feo begin to rush off leaving Lonnie to yelp. Always playing catch-up. Still, before she rushes off along with the goat and sheep, the llama offers Nina a friendly hug. "My f-father works for a company that has a Sea working with them. Th-they don't teach it to us here in Sea Speak class, b-b-but he says Sea Animals don't mind it if others eat them, but d-don't let anybody eat you, Nina. You just got here. ...kay, g-gotta go." As the girls run off to Judo Club, Nina is a bit at a loss over all that just happened, especially the last thing Lonnie said. The people of the sea here don't mind being eaten? How odd... She shudders at the thought, no, she does not plan on letting anyone eat her if she can help it. "Well, this day just got really weird..." She mutters to herself with a sigh and looks up at the sky for a moment as if it holds the answers. "I guess it wouldn't be school if there wasn't some drama, though this is a bit... extreme." "They sure left in a hurry," comes a voice from behind Nina's focal perception. It's the bear. The big beast is rather dangerously light on his feet. Still, he doesn't tower over the dolphin in some bid to be intimidating. Rather, he stands there, arm around his bag, with the same teddy bear face as before. "You girls sure do get excited over club gossip, don't you?" Maybe he doesn't know about the nature of the talk or he's acting like he doesn't for the sake of civility. "Here, I think you dropped this when they pulled you away." A rather large clawed hand reaches out to hold out a folded sheet of paper. It appears to be the kind of letter you stick into another student's locker to pass it along. It smells faintly of mint and lemongrass. Nina jumps, startled by Riz suddenly being right behind her and somehow she didn't hear him coming despite her excellent hearing, though perhaps she was just too distracted. She tries to play it off as she hops on her tail and spins around quickly to face Riz. As he comments on the gossip she nods in agreement, hoping he didn't hear the details. "Yeah, excited, that's one way of describing those three... For sure." She then takes the note and looks at it curiously, she doesn't remember having this note in the first place. "Oh, thanks." She offers with a smile. "I'm Nina by the way... nice to meet you and all." "I'm Riz." There's a slow panning glance off toward the direction the other three went, but his gaze lingers once more on the auditorium, although he eventually looks back. "Didn't know that Seas went to school here now." There are pauses between what he says when he speaks as if there's a measure of awkwardness in the act. "You must be staying in the Herbivore Dormitory." That's not spoken as a question even a little bit. With a slight shift, the bear repositions the bag in his arm. He doesn't seem to be the best conversationalist. Conservative. That's the best word to describe his demeanor and posture. It might be up to Nina to salvage the dialog from the threat of awkward silence, even if Nina's smile is certainly returned. "Riz, that's a nice name." Nina comments casually, trying to keep the conversation with the potentially murderous bear good-natured, and for that reason, she avoids mentioning how the girls seemed jumpy being around him. She looks at the note a moment before stuffing it into her bag. She looks back up at Riz, trying to stay calm, mentally telling herself that surely he wouldn't murder her out here with others around to see. "They were off to Judo club, whatever that is. I don't really have any plans for the evening... Anyway, yes I'm the first Seas animal to come here, and I'm still pretty new. It is a bit odd that I'm staying with the herbivores though now that you mention it, since technically I'm not, but I guess you don't count fish as meat up here in the same way?" She states the last more like a question. There's a casual stare that comes from the large bear even as he hunches forward a little, bag in his arm, to more readily peer down at the dolphin girl. A moment passes, gears turning behind the grizzly's eyes, as he processes the topic at hand. "Fish, huh?" Clawed fingers dig into the bag in his grip. The use of fish as food isn't a thing that the bear has fully acclimated to, even though it's been around for some time. Nina's own experiences with her Seaspeak tutor have shown that many Herbivores still find it distasteful. Still, visit the harbor and you'll find any number of fishing vessels newly made to help provide for Carnivores that once relied on the Back Alley Black Market for their meat fix. "Depends on who you ask, but they still won't serve it here at school and the faculty turn their nose down at anybody that brings in fish snacks. Best to keep them hidden if you're not eating off campus." The bear's eyes search the girl's body language as subtly as he's able. The bear's grip crinkles a plastic bag inside his book bag and the absolute faintest waft of dried sardines drifts through the air. It'd be far too minimal for Herbivores to pick up on. Did he do that on purpose? "Guess it works out best for you, huh?" Nina looks back up at Riz, keeping eye contact. She is a little nervous about how big Riz is compared to her, and trying her best not to think about the things she's read back home about normal feral bears eating seals in light of what the girls had mentioned, failing a bit her gaze does flicker between his claws a moment. "Not even fish snacks?" she repeats with a tone of disappointment while trying to keep her voice down while talking about this apparently forbidden food. "That's a shame, I wonder why no one told me, seems like a pretty obvious thing for it to slip their mind. I guess I will have to find a good place off campus to eat at." Nina comments with a grin. "But yes, I guess it works. I'm not really going to be too picky about it, not like there are other seas that I could dorm with, the problem with being first. Nina's eyes eventually drift down to the bag. She doesn't have the best sense of smell, though still better than a traditional dolphin would on land, and perhaps tuned toward the smell of food. "Keep those fish snacks hidden well, huh. Hopefully, the herbivores don't have much of a nose for it." She says with a knowing wink. "Well, there's a difference... Nina." The bear goes quiet a moment as a few students wander by. Unlike the girls, these two don't give the bear any weird looks. Seems not all students know. It's a complicated mess of politics. Once they pass, the older bear resumes talking with that deep gentle voice. "Just because something isn't liked doesn't mean it's prohibited." Technically that means that the bear isn't necessarily a rule-breaker. He reaches into the partially unzipped book satchel to open a zip-seal further before digging for something with a thumb and forefinger. "You just have to be a little more careful if you care what other animals think about you." Those fingers pull out a dried sardine caught between two sharp claws. It's headless, which probably helps in case Herbivores nearby worry about somebody snack 'staring' at them. The bear offers it out to the dolphin. "Take it if you want. I won't judge you." Nina does look relieved to hear there isn't really a rule against fish despite the avoidance of having them here. She looks at the students that walk past, then turns back to Riz. "I see... I don't suppose it changes anything if it's what I'd normally eat a lot of otherwise... Pretty sure I've seen an avian or two that from what I know would typically eat a lot of fish if given the chance." She watches as Riz reaches into his bag, salivating a bit as the smell grows a bit stronger, and it's actually been a little while since she last had fish. She blinks in surprise at the offer, but then quickly grabs the fish before anyone around can see. She glances around to see if anyone is looking her way before tossing the sardine into her mouth, holding it on her tongue for a moment to enjoy the mild fishy flavor. She eventually chews and swallows, smiling brightly back at Riz now. "Thank you for that, didn't realize how much I've been craving." The reaction brings a small laugh from the big bear. It's been a while since others have thanked him for delicious things. "Nina... First Seas student at Cherryton. It's a lot of work trying to fit into a society so different from your home, hm? But..." The bag in the bag is resealed before the satchel is closed up a bit more securely. "You have the excuse of doing things a different way. Take advantage of that when it comes to tasty food." Riz shakes a finger in emphasis of his final statement just before a digital bell sounds from the school. Most Clubs are getting fully started now. "You're late for Club attendance. Sorry. My fault." The bear isn't exactly in a hurry to go to a Club, either, though. Nina smiles and nods. "Right, who doesn't want to have tasty food, right? Bland bad food just makes life dull and lifeless. But I guess if I'm going to enjoy it more often I'll need to learn more about cooking. Now that I don't have my dad around to spoil me." It seems she might have had more to say but the bell interrupts her thoughts and she frowns a bit at Riz's statement of her lateness. "Well, hard to be late when you haven't chosen where to go I guess. I'm not good at sports, not land ones anyway, so that rules out most of the options, and even with fewer choices I still couldn't choose." She laughs. "Maybe Drama Club? Sounds fun I guess, though I've never done anything like that so I'm not sure." "Yeah, wouldn't exactly be able to fire up a range beneath a well-oiled wok underwater," asides Riz when Nina mentions learning more about cooking and he wears the smile that follows along the lines of dialog spoken about Clubs until Nina says two words in particular. Drama Club. There's a quick flicker of a glance toward the auditorium before Riz' entire body language recoils by turning fifteen degrees away. "Well..." the bear says as he attempts to roll along with the turn. "I know some of the students that are part of it. Very inclusive group. Could do a lot worse than that one. Probably worth a try, if you want. Would be difficult to not fill every seat with a Sea on the handbill." Watching the way Riz suddenly turns after glancing at the auditorium, along with the pause after he begins to speak, Nina wonders if she struck a nerve, but the things he ends up saying about the club seem positive. She laughs at the statement about filling every seat. "I guess I am the latest curiosity around, so you're probably right. I guess when I think about it, the club draws me more than the others, though I guess Manga club would be fun too, and gardening would maybe go well with cooking." Some of the tenseness eases. Riz's first concern was that the new girl might ask him to escort her to the club. Flashes of imagery in his mind play over how terrible that would go. Still, he misses the Club and that brings about a silent sigh before he regains more composure and smiles again. "You should do what your heart tells you to do. Drama Club will let you meet a lot of new people. Maybe even a future boyfriend," he teases. "Garden Club never has many interested students, but they have, mmm, a hose in case it gets too hot?" Riz takes a moment to reshuffle the weight of his bag with one arm so that he can reach into his pocket and pull out his phone. He promptly checks the time. "Better if you don't mention my name to them if you go, though." As the moment passes and Riz's tenseness fades into what seemed like a disappointed sigh, Nina tries to roll with the continued conversation. The image of getting hosed down on a hot day like a beached dolphin makes her chuckle a bit, but she ends up looking back towards the auditorium a moment before returning her eyes to Riz. "I guess being new here, meeting new friends is even more important, so I guess drama it is." She says while trying to hide her blushing at the thought of ending up with one of them becoming her boyfriend. "And uh, sure. I won't mention you. Thanks for the advice though, hopefully I won't be in too much trouble for being late. I guess I can just say I got lost right?" "It's mid-term anyway," notes the bear. "Just join their meeting respectfully and ask Bill about joining the Club fully. He's a third year student. Bengal tiger. Good fellow. A lot less naive than he used to be. Don't know which year you are, but there's bound to be something for you to do. And just about anybody can get along with Aoba, Tao, Els... Pina." Riz speaks with a surprising amount of familiarity. Els is the biggest sore spot of them all for Riz, though, and it's not even her fault. "You know how to get there, right? I'd take you there, but..." There's a brief pause. "I don't want to be late for work." He's not lying, though. Not many students have school and work. Nina nods and smiles brightly, starting to look a little excited. "Got it, I'll do that, thanks." Assuming he's the only tiger in the group it should be rather hard to miss him she thinks. She also picks up on how he seems to know a lot of the members, and though Riz seems so nice, she wonders if it's a clue what the herbivore girls she was talking with earlier were saying, is true. "Alright, if you have work I guess we both better get going. And um, yeah it's the one with the fountain out front right?" She asks, pointing toward the auditorium. "That's the auditorium, yeah. Now, they usually meet in the drama classroom, but they might have stage rehearsals going on, so I'd check the auditorium first." With a small grunt, Riz turns away and puts his bag down on the pathway so he can tie his laces on his left shoe. Ever so briefly, however, one might notice the black-strapped device on his right ankle when his school uniform pant leg hitches up just a bit from the changed posture. "Oh, and Nina? Don't go out after hours with Carnivores. It's not that you can't trust them. Just don't want rumors and gossip, right?" Riz stands and picks up his bag. "Have fun." "Okay, yeah. I'll check there first, hope work goes well for you." Nina offers as she briefly watches Riz tie his shoes. Spending so much time in school here in her dolphin form she might just forget what it feels like to wear shoes. She catches a glimpse of the black ankle bracelet but the sheltered girl she is, doesn't make out what it is. "Um, okay, sure." She quickly agrees to his parting request before starting to head towards the auditorium, but it isn't long before the wheels start turning in her head and she wonders what sort of rumors and gossip he means. Riz turns enough to watch the dolphin girl head on her way, face made for playing poker, as his gaze lingers. It passes from her to the auditorium and back again. Frowning briefly on the inside, the brown bear turns away and begins to walk the opposite direction. The trains will be crowded again. It'll be a tight fit in the Carnivore cars. It's not a very glamorous part time job as a diner cook, but it's maybe a start. Could be worse. It's just hard to fight loneliness, even with a second chance stacked heavily against you. "Nina, hm. I bet Pina knows something." | ||
