Hi, I Have Caterpillars in my Hair (Junpei)

Junpei's belongings had finally arrived and he'd spent a majority of the day getting his room set up, putting the gohonzon in the corner of the room, making sure he had his beads displayed nicely. Of course also putting away his clothing and setting his skateboard in the corner for easy access. He set up the pictures frames of his mother, his grandmother, and his uncle on the nightstand next to his bed. And the collection of books went in the bookshelf. Before he knew it, Junpei's room was set up......and he was at a loss for what to do.

While he wanted to go down to the town and explore, the hour was drawing late and he probably would not get back in time before dark. Not necessarily curfew, because he was sure he could make that, only that once the sun went down it would be more difficult for Junpei to find his way back by himself. Therefore the other option was exploring the immediate area. Luckily, just surrounding the school, there were many courtyards and grassy areas, and some foliage/bushes things that he could romp through like the kid he was. Not the Junpei did much romping, but it was fun to pretend.

But the wonder of wonders, discoveries of discoveries, was that there was a pond! An actual little pond with grass and reeds and some little koi fishies poking their heads out, awww they're so cuute! Junpei's eyes practically glowed in his amazement as he took in the scenery and circled the pond to delve deeper in the brush and trees on the opposite end of the water body. There was a small clearing which he immediately appraised as the perfect spot for him to practice his power.

Despite his unmotivation to take his training seriously, Junpei actually did like his power. He liked playing with it and seeing what different kinds of things he could do. What kind of things he could manipulate, what his limits were, could he tweak things to do something else. Sometimes, he liked to see how many things he could imbue at once without getting tired. It usually involved careful distribution of his reserves, a long and complicated math exercise of sorts, but it was a fun exercise. Luckily there were a lot of leaves on the ground.

Junpei gathered them up into a pile, counting them each as he went. He had to know how many there were first, otherwise he would overdraw his reserves. Placing his hands around the pile, he concentrated, feeling the energy flow out from his fingertips, into the leaves he was touching, and even between them like they were sharing the signal with each other. He picked them up slowly, then released them as he tossed them into the air. Each one seemed to suspend in the air surrounding him, floating and tumbling with the subtle currents of air, looking like a cluster of green butterflies on a brush of wind. A few crumbs of dirt had gotten caught in the exchange and were slowly drifting back down to the ground, sparkling and shining in the light breaking through the trees.

Junpei smiled, not realizing that there was someone else nearby.

Junpei jumped slightly at the sudden feminine voice and his head snapped towards it's origin. He hadn't realized anybody was watching and a flush spread down his neck. "Gomen!" he said sharply, "I am not think there is someone here!" His words were accented, as if he wasn't used to speaking the sounds which made them up. His eyes were wide as he stiffened and stared at the girl who was speaking in a language that he was only just beginning to grasp.

Junpei started to speak again, but in that moment the leaves and dust fell back down to the earth. Junpei looked around as they did, a mite frustrated for having lost count of the time. Now he'd have to do it all over again, but it would probably have to wait until he could be alone again. In all honesty, Junpei was self-conscious about using his powers in front of other people. Not that there was anything strange or unique or embarrassing about them, he was just very...shy about it.

The Asian boy, cleared his throat and tried to recall what the girl had just spoken. She said her name was...Yue? He smiled and offered his hand back to shake hers, a custom that he was trying hard to remain conscious of. "Hello, I am Junpei. It is nice meeting you." Unfortunately, the first part, about telekinesis, was completely lost on him. "Ano...can you say one more time? I am not speaking English well."

The blush continued as he spoke, not completely certain if the words he was using were correct or not. "Sankyu..." he said hesitantly. It wasn't that his concentration was disturbed, he was simply startled. His power wasn't dependent on concentration except at the beginning when he was "telling" the energy what to do. After that, it was just a matter of time until it wore off. The only concentration he lost was in counting how long the effect lasted with the amount of energy he transferred.

She, Yue, had a cute voice, Junpei decided. Her hand was so small in his hand, it was amazing she was able to give such a firm handshake. His, in turn, was looser, reflective of his shy nature. Junpei leaned in to hear her question better then cleared his throat before answering. His power was... "Ki wo tsugikomu...." he muttered out the japanese term before pulling out his smartphone from his back pocket, the phone with a bunch of colorful straps and charms hanging from it's corner, and started plugging in the term into his Japanese->English translator app. Once it pulled up, Junpei shuffled up beside her and held the device so she could see the screen, pointing at the translation which read, "Implantation of Energy."

He followed up with the answers to her other question. "I am from Japan." He lowered his head and chuckled before bringing his eyes back up to meet hers. "Thank you bery much. I am not practicing bery long." But since she asked him, he may as well ask her too. "What is your pawaa, Yue-chan?" Junpei sent her a very excitable grin. He loved hearing about the different kinds of things other metas could do.

Nope....Confidence should never be used to describe Junpei, the boy had about all the confidence of a sack of potatoes...actually, the potato sack might even have more than Junpei could claim. If he was sure that he was doing something right, then perhaps he would have it more. But this was his first time in America and he still hadn't gotten used to the customs. Junpei was paranoid that everything he did was going to be looked at strangely because he was so foreign, just like how his aunt and uncle would do to the gaijin back home.

Yep, the only thing that Junpei might be a sliver confident in was his online dictionary, making communication possible between the languages and cultures. Yep, Junpei hardly had to try, hardly had to think to be able to exercise those skills, a fact which got him scolded on more than one occasion when he tried to hold 3 binary conversations at once while being scolded by one of his more opinionated relatives. Junpei nodded with a soft "Hai..." as she read the words out-loud. Implantation of energy. Energy imbuement. Energy transference. Energy manipulation. Junpei had heard it called a lot of things, but the concepts were all the same. He took his own energy and implemented it into other objects with a pre-set command. Which was why he would insist that Yue hadn't ruined any sort of concentration in his practice if he knew that's what she thought. "Thank you..." he replied, lisping the unfamiliar "th"-sound to resemble more of an "s" than "th".

Luckily, Junpei's listening skills were a lot better than his speaking skills. "I am only here from three day ago." He had suddenly transferred, giving the lost boy little chance to adapt to the new environment. But so far, he liked it. Especially the friendly girls.

And cute!

OMG, CUTE!

With caterpillars!

The way little Yue giggled and announced her power only to have the little critter appear crawling down from her scalp....It was all Junpei could do to contain himself at the adorable overblown kawaii of this girl!

Junpei gave a stupid shake of his head, his bottom lip just barely hanging open as he was mesmerized by the stunt she pulled. "Chigau! That is not stupid. Is very...cool." The blushing came back almost immediately and Junpei wished he had a hole to crawl into to hibernate until hell froze over. But seeing as that was not an option, Junpei merely smiled like a doofus as he watched the caterpillar the girl had bore.

Yue's amazement and incredibly outgoing nature was infectious, as was her smile which Junpei found himself mirroring as his own with a more friendly than nervous laugh as she repeated and exclaimed her excitement over his "newness". Especially when she offered to show him around, which was exactly what he'd been wanting to do since he arrived.

Junpei nodded his head furiously with excited eyes and a smile that shone more brightly than the sun. "Hai! Yes! I want to see the city." His cheeks twinged pink again, for being so bold to ask. "I want to see all thing there is for seeing!" Especially the places where other kids hung out. Junpei may not know the language, and be very shy, but he was also a very social person, preferring to be around other people on his down time. And if he could find a group of students to integrate himself into right away, all the better.

Things were already better than back home.

Junpei's attention was captured by the small little worm. It was actually quite charming. He loved to come into contact with nature, and it was kind of amazing that this girl could create some of that nature herself. He looked up at Yue when she presented her offer and he nodded, reaching out his hand towards the little brown guy with an eager smile. "Mushi wa...." Junpei started in the wrong language. "Can caterpillar turn into butterfly?" Junpei felt a tickle on his finger and looked back, seeing that the caterpillar had crawled upon his finger. Junpei beamed again as it moved across his hand and onto his forearm. "Kawaii~!" he exclaimed.

The only people Junpei had been able to interact with after arriving at Hammel was Hatsuharu-sensei and Meian-sensei. Both had been teachers at Eisai while Junpei was there and he'd met them again after coming here. There was also Meian-sensei's wife, whom Junpei still hadn't the privilege to meet, and his daughters, whom he was anxious to meet as well.

But he was grateful that he could still find a friend on his own like this, especially in a girl as cute as this one.

"Hai!" he exclaimed again. "I have free time always!" Junpei really did. Though he had signed up for clubs, he hadn't been to any meetings yet and didn't know their schedules. And classes had not started, nor had he any scheduled training sessions yet. He was perfectly free for the time being. But apparently Yue wasn't? "You have training? For practicing power?" Or was it for something else? Maybe she was in one of the clubs? Junpei kind of pictured a cute little thing like this being in the drama club or maybe the art club. Junpei hoped she was in the art club, because that was one of the clubs that he signed up for. Oh, or maybe choir? Junpei could picture this girl being a little songstress.

"Hontou ni?" Junpei was amazed that the little caterpillars actually became butterflies. That was so cool! Now he had thoughts of this little girl Yue being surrounded in millions of butterflies. And of course, she had to be wearing a floral kimono with these high rise geta sandals. And the look would be finished off with a cute little pink daisy pin in her dark hair.

Junpei shook his head. Now was not the time to be getting lost in his fantasies.

The boy looked up when she offered for him to keep the little worm. He honestly didn't know what to say. He'd never kept a pet before, Junpei was almost certain he'd mess it up and end up killing it somehow. Suddenly his face was a little bit panicked. "Muri desu! I cannot! I do not know how to keep pet!" He wouldn't know the first thing about taking care of a dog, much less something as fragile as a caterpillar.

Junpei listened intently as he listened to her schedule, not quite sure if he was getting it right. According to her, Yue was available.....she might be available to go down for lunch....which would be good, right? "Tomorrow? Or day after tomorrow? We can go to town for eating lunch?" Of course, it would be Junpei's treat. He would never let a girl pay for her own meal if he had anything to say about it.

However, when Yue announced that she was on the track team, all of the fluffy images he had of her being a traditional beauty were shaken away like an etch-a-sketch in an earthquake. So she was an athletic girl? That was surprising. That was no where near close to the delicate image he had impulsively drawn up of her.

But...that wasn't bad. Was it?

Of course, this lit a new kind of interest, a curiosity in the girl called Yue within Junpei. "I am thinking....I want to see Yue run. I can watch?" Running could be cute too. Actually, Yue probably had no idea just how adorable she was seeming to Junpei, even with her strong, outgoing attitude. So much eccentricity and strength packed into such a tiny little body....it was definitely cute, Junpei decided.

Yue offering to help Junpei figure out how to keep a caterpillar and take care of it was a big relief for him. He was still anxious about it but that anxiety was quickly transforming into it's own butterfly of excitement. This was a great opportunity for them to deepen their newly budding friendship! A little project that they could work on together, and when the caterpillar finally became a butterfly, maybe they could release it outside together? "Yes! Help! I will like help." Junpei nodded rapidly with a large smile at Yue's offer. "Tell me thing I need, I will buy, and you will help, please?" She already said she would, but Junpei hoped he hadn't scared her away with his eagerness.