Author's notes:Hi! Sorry its been a while. Also, this chapter is unbetaed so there is probably some typos ahead.
Chapter 5 Making Friends
Friday, 20.3.2009
Gekkoukan Female Dormitory, Hakuno's POV
"…and now, as the final piece of the tour of our fine Dormitory, is the room you would be getting, miss Kishinami. It is the same size as everyone else's rooms with a door that can be locked from the inside for privacy, though I do have a master key in my office in case of emergencies," the dorm mother explains patiently as we approach the empty room. It was kind of a drag to go over the orientation for the whole dorm just for this weekend, especially since I had already memorized the blueprints, but I had managed to get some interesting information out of the dorm mother regarding the Dormitory security.
I was worried she might grow suspicious at my questions regarding the dorm security, but I guess she just chalked them up for nervousness at moving to a new environment. Combined with my 'disease', I think she might have gotten a wrong impression of me but since this takes only one weekend I don't think there is any harm in it.
"I'm afraid we have only communal showers at the moment, but if you decide to stay here, I'm sure we can work out a system for reserving a shower room for your use in advance," thanks but I'm going to abstain or at least limit it to Dark Hour in order to minimize the chances of getting caught out of costume. Of course I won't say that aloud, but just thank her for the assistance before saying goodbye. She just smiles and reminds me that the evening meal is in an hour before leaving me to "get comfortable" in my new surroundings. Not that I need to eat but I am equipped fake it.
After double checking that the door was locked, I fell down on my temporary bed. The feeling was surprisingly comfortable, muted though it was through my artificial skin.
Still, it was my first real bed, as in Tsukumihara I had to make a do with just a blanket and the Kirijo Group seemed to be under the impression that all I needed was my charging station. Really, for all they seemed to be surprised how 'humanlike' I am, they really default to thinking of me as a machine as soon as I leave the room. Especially the ones I was in infrequent contact with, like professor Friedemann. He actually sent me an e-mail yesterday. Apparently the creation of my new feet has been put in the backburner for now, as the higher ups (who exactly are those? Takeharu? Shuji?) straight up ordered him to drop my feet and go over all their other scrapped ASW in case they can be revived.
It was unfortunate, but there was nothing I could do about it. Since Shuji was here in Iwatodai, I think they only have professor and his two assistants there. Although they might get some new personnel if they manage to get more ASW's up and running.
The thought alone makes me sombre. More ASW's… I… Could they also be from Moon Cell? Would they have been the previous models? But then, did the Moon Cell even really exist? Was that all just a convenient simulation to prepare me for this?
I should go outside. Try to get some information for Sunday. I quickly get up from the bed and after a quick check that mechanical bits are covered, head out of the door.
The hallway in which my temporary room is located on is deserted, much like the whole building had been during my little tour. The dorm mother had explained that it was because of the holidays; most of the tenants were either visiting their families or on School Club sponsored trips like Yukari. That suits me just fine, no distractions; just empty hallways.
Tastefully decorated hallways. Lower quality than what the Iwatodai Dorm has, Saber would probably call this peasant, with its own homely charm. To me it is a pleasant change to the usual professional settings of school buildings and laboratories. Still, I think Saber's rubbed off on me a little as I do think that the Iwatodai Dorm's slight posh is more my style.
Suddenly I hear a door opening behind me. Well, the dorm mother did say that only most of the students were away, so this must be someone who either stayed over the vacation or arrived early. Maybe I could ask?
The girl that exits neighbouring flat is clearly some sort of athlete; she's dressed in light grey sweatsuit and her hair is done in a sporty ponytail. She seems surprised to see me.
"Hello" I greet her politely.
"Hi?" she asks before collecting herself, "Sorry, I wasn't expecting to run into anyone. Much less a stranger."
"Its nothing. And I am a new student at Gekkoukan High, here to scout out the dormitory before possibly moving in," I bow in greeting, "My name is Hakuno Kishinami."
"Rio Iwasaki" she greets back, "pleasure to meet you."
"You too. Are you heading out for training?" I inquire while motioning Rio to walk with me.
"Yes. I was just elected as the captain of the school's Tennis Club and I would do a disservice to my club mates if I started to slack off just because its vacation," Rio explains with a slightly defensive tone as she walks beside me.
"You sound very dedicated," I feel the need to comment.
"I am very dedicated," Rio declares with confidence, "How could I succeed if I wasn't? Tennis is a sport that…" I listen intently as Rio launches on a speech about the merits of tennis. Its endearing really, to see her being so passionate about it. Saber approves too. Eventually Rio runs out of steam, but she then asks me to join the tennis club when the school begins.
"I would love to, but I have a… medical condition that prevents me from activities like that," I sigh and then remember the usual reaction I've had when telling people I have a 'medical condition': "Nothing contagious! Just, prevents me from some activities and needs some more privacy. That's why I'm here, actually. To see how it would work out here."
"Oh, that sounds like a hassle," Rio emphasizes, "and sad. I love sports, especially tennis and the thought that some disease can take it away is just horrible." I'm glad Rio doesn't make a scene about this and we continue chatting until we reach the dorm doors.
"Well, I have to go now, but it was fun talking to you Hakuno," Rio smiles, "I'll see you tomorrow? You're new in town so I could show you around a little."
"That would be great! My room is 307. I'm probably going to be busy in the morning, but I should be free around midday."
"See you then!" Rio waves me goodbye and slink out the door.
She seemed very earnest person, I hope I can make friends with her.
From there, I ended up wandering around the dorm's communal areas for a while, before going outside and sitting down on a bench within eye view of the dorm. After sitting there for a while, my gaze automatically wandered towards the second-floor windows and what I was pretty sure was Yukari's room. Naturally, the next thought in my mind was how to keep Yukari out of the room come Sunday.
How to do this…? The best way would probably be a delay of some sort. Could I frame a break-in? The Dark Hour would make it easy to stage one, except that would be way too early. And police investigation would probably focus on people who were at the dorm for the weekend, like me. Unless I focused the attempt on Yukari's room, but that would be almost as bad as breaking in, especially as it would single her out. Multiple rooms then? No, that's worse.
I sigh loudly and lean back on the wooden bench. It is a bit frustrating that all the ideas I seem to get are so extreme. Doable, but I don't want to cross certain lines when it's not life and death situation. Its just a habit from the war. It'll mellow out with normal life, I reassure myself and let my gaze wander, noticing two boys flick their smokes into the bus stop's ashtray before boarding the bus.
Oh right. Sometimes simple is best, I get up and walk to the bus stop, plucking the recently discarded smoke from the ashtray, a fire alarm at the right time should clear the building easily, without being anything more serious than a scare and not drawing attention at any specific people. I slip the smoke into my Gekkoukan uniform pocket and head back to the dorm with lighter steps.
Saturday, 21.3.2009
Naganaki Shrine, Hakuno's POV
Much to my surprise, Rio Iwasaki had come knocking at my door precisely at 12 o'clock. It had been a pleasant surprise, as the morning had been kind of dull with the few students present for the dorm's breakfast keeping to themselves despite my attempts to break the ice. Afterwards the dorm mother had pulled me over to do some planning for future schedules regarding my stay. I didn't hadn't had the heart to tell her that I wouldn't stay past the weekend.
Anyway, I was all too happy to accept Rio's offer to properly show me around the city as the only places I had so far really explored were the Dorm, Paulownia Mall and Tartarus. Of course, I didn't mention the latter to Rio.
The first stop on the tour was a place called Naganaki Shrine. It was a small shrine located on a small hill in the northern part of the city, not very far from Gekkoukan Dormitories. It seemed to be well cared, though certainly old, but the wear and tear from use seemed to just give it a more dignified atmosphere. The place also had a more modern children's playground taking up roughly a fourth of its courtyard.
"This place is pretty famous among the students, mainly because of the rumour that praying at the shrine gives you better grades. I don't know if its true but has never hurt me to stop by and leaving an offering before exams," Rio explains before pulling me to the side to what seems to be a weathered fortune box, "since we are here, might as well take one?" She then proceeds to pull a fortune from the wooden box, after which she closes her eyes in concentration, probably offering a prayer or something, before looking at what she got. I too take a fortune, though as I'm not sure what it should be about, I decide to just ask for good luck with my endeavours in the future.
The fortune declares that my luck will be fair for the time being and money will be involved. Money would be very much appreciated, I smile at the result before turning to Rio, who seems to have had little less luck, judging by the scowl on her face.
"What's the other reason then?" I ask to distract her from the presumably ill fortune, "you said the shrine is the main reason, but what's the other reason then?"
"Oh," Rio takes a second to focus back to the matter at hand before smiling, "yes, the other reason is that the place is a favoured stop for athletes of all kind during their runs. The playground may be meant for kids, but it's also a good place to do some simple stretches and muscle training before turning around and heading back to the dorm or other training places." She then gives an example by pulling a few chin ups at the jungle gym. Mood restored, we continued the tour by visiting few local parks and their public football fields and basketball courts, not that they were in use this time of the year. Rio's clear preference for physical activities clearly showed.
Our next big stop was the Iwatodai Strip Mall and its next-door neighbour, the Iwatodai Train Station. The shops had seemed to be mainly fast food places or other restaurants, though I had managed to spot a dedicated sweet shop as well as a book store at the front, and Rio had assured me that there were some other real shops on the other side, though nothing as dedicated as what could be found at the Paulownia Mall. Since Rio hadn't been hungry, we had then boarded train to the Port Island.
The Port Island Station was vaguely familiar to me from my previous visits, but Rio expanded my knowledge of the area by warning me off the back alleys and then focusing on the 'Screen Shot' movie theater.
"It's the largest movie theatre in the city and pretty popular because of it. They are also willing to hire students to do part time jobs, like selling tickets and showing customers to their seats so keep that in mind if you need extra cash," Rio explains dutifully while you walk around checking the place, "they also host a sizeable film festival at the end of the summer here. Its really popular, with some people traveling from quite far to take part in so last years it has become a chore to try and procure tickets to the films. As a veteran of the event, I recommend checking the offerings long beforehand and preordering tickets."
From there, we headed over to the Gekkoukan High School and then to the Paulownia Mall though we didn't take time to explore them as the school was closed and I already knew the mall, so Rio instead focused on showing me the shortcuts that made traveling easier, though she made it clear that some places weren't really safe once it got dark. Especially if I had a weak constitution, so I had to promise to her that I wouldn't be running around by myself after it got dark. I also managed to find a 1000-yen bill on the ground, fulfilling the fortune I had gotten back at the shrine.
Iwatodai Sports Center, Hakuno's POV
Rio's tour of Iwatodai came to an end at the Iwatodai Sports center. She apparently still had her evening training regimen to look forward to.
"I really owe you for this tour Rio," I admit as Rio digs her membership card from her wallet.
"Think nothing of it Hakuno," she reassures me, "I had the time and had fun too."
"Me too. Its been a while since I've had the opportunity to spend time with a friend like this," I confess, thinking back to… the final days of the Grail War? It really has been a while. And even then, the mood at the end there wasn't nearly as dree from stress as this. I mean, even when I didn't know that there was an extra Master waiting for us at the core of the Moon Cell, those last days were busy with worrying about fighting Leo and trying to come up with a way to help Rani escape the Moon Cell.
And besides those, just walking around the empty Tsukumihara academy had been depressing, with each empty corner reminding me of dead people.
"Hey, cheer up. We'll have plenty of time to walk around later on during the year. I'll introduce you to a few friends too, not that you'll need help with making those or anything," Rio suddenly says and places her hand on my shoulder. I think I let my bad memories show on my face for a while there.
"I will. Thanks Rio", I tell her back, "you have fun with your training." I wave her goodbye and start walking away, however because I try to keep Rio in my field of view I manage to somehow trip over my lack of feet and fall on the ground with a loud thud, electing a worried cry from Rio.
"I'm all right!" I embarrassedly wave her off as I rise to a crouch on the floor. Hell, consireding what my body is made of I wouldn't be surprised if the floor was damaged more but of course I can't tell that to Rio. She still insists on helping me up and apologises for making me walk so much even though I'm supposedly damaged by illness and everything, managing to make me feel a little bad for lying to her about my condition.
"No its not your fault Rio. I'm all right, I'll take the bus back to the dorm and everything," I reassure her and swipe some imaginary dirt from the fall off my clothes.
"You should also eat something. We have been on the move for several hours now and while I am used to it, you clearly aren't. Buy a sandwich form the cafeteria or something, it'll take the edge off," she starts to fuss, but eventually I manage to get her to stop, though she still escorts me to the cafeteria and only leaves for the locker rooms after I had wasted the money I found earlier on some food and drink.
Still, I couldn't be mad at her for that just as I couldn't help the happy smile I had on my face when I returned to the dorm later.
