Youkoso! (Karashi)

[Deleted]

Junpei was always excited whenever there was a new transfer in from his home country of Japan. Granted he didn't know every single student there, Junpei was still known as the quiet one. He was kind of the person who faded easily into the background. But still, even if he didn't know this girl and even if she was a year or two ahead of him in school, they still went to the same school! And they were both Japanese! In Junpei's mind, that was all one needed for him to come forward and offer his friendship. And it made Junpei feel better because there were still few students here with whom he could communicate with in his native language, especially considering he still wasn't all that good at English(which had become a problem in an encounter with his roommate earlier).

In any case, as also a member of one of the peer mediators, Junpei felt that it was his duty go greet this new arrival and show her around the school. Junpei stepped down to the 4th floor, the girl's dorm, and knocked on the door to room 407. "Ochamashima~su!" he called out to the other side, far too polite to simply barge into a girl's room, and patiently waited for a response.

[Karashi Usaki]

Karashi sighed, putting her bags down. 407. This was her assigned dorm. She was definitely a bit wary of what, or who, she was going to find behind the door. She wasn’t very good with people, especially in a brand new place, much less a brand new country. She was literally a fish out of water (in a figurative manner of course). She didn’t really know what type of language to use there, even though that was her power. Karashi sighed, putting the key into the lock and opening the door.

Karashi was glad to see that there was no one else in the room at that moment, although she could clearly see that one of the doors was open, meaning that she already had roommates. Great. Just what she needed. She braced herself to be greeted by them, but was only greeted by silence. She smiled to herself. That’s the way she liked it. She walked around, inspecting the room, and then found out that one of the rooms was empty. She decided to take that one. Karashi set her bags down on the bed. It was going to take a lot of decorating to call this place her own. Even though she had been raised as simplistic, secretly she wanted to express her inner girl.

Karashi looked around, and then suddenly heard a knock, and a male voice call out in her own native language. Her heart skipped a beat. If this man knew her native language, then maybe she knew him! There was only one meta school in Japan. She only hoped that she knew him, because then that meant that she wouldn’t be alone. She doubted she did though since she was so reserved. Karashi cleared her throat, and started to answer, but had to clear it again. Why was she getting so nervous? “J-Just a minute!” Karashi got up and made sure she was presentable, and then she went to the door and opened it, only to see a Japanese male standing there. She smiled nervously at him. “U-Um, konnichiwa…” Karashi greeted him in her native tongue.

[Deleted]

Junpei heard a cute voice come from the other side of the door. It seemed like she already knew English pretty fluently, so that was good(and already a step ahead of Junpei who was only just beginning to grasp the language). As the door opened, Junpei straightened himself and put on his best, most welcoming smile. He smoothed out the wrinkles in his green t-shirt, and placed his hand properly at his sides, preparing to formally bow once the door had been fully opened...which he did.

Junpei bent at the waist as soon as he saw the cute face of the girl who had just moved in and greeted him with a simple hello. "Konnichi wa! //I am Junpei! It's a pleasure to meet you!//" The easily excited boy shot out the traditional greeting to this girl. He straightened himself back up and looked upon her face. No, he hadn't met her before. At least not officially, but if he thought about it, Junpei did remember seeing her a few times at the school.

Though now that that was out of the way, Junpei had no idea what else to do or say and just kind of stood there with that beamingly awkward smile for a second or two before he snapped out of it and explained his reason for being there. "//Actually, I was asked to come greet you and help you get settled in. And if you're up for it, we can go on a tour of the campus.//" It was the same kind of treatment he'd gotten from Haru-sensei, and a little from Meian-sensei. It really did help to have someone else there to guide you rather than having to figure out everything by yourself.

[Karashi Usaki]

Karashi wasn’t really prepared for the traditional greeting, but she reciprocated the greeting, bowing towards the man as well. “U-Um, nice to meet you. My name is Karashi. Would you prefer English or Japanese…?” That wasn’t a normal question she would ask, but she figured it was better to ask so that she could be polite. She didn’t wait for him to answer, and continued on in Japanese, which felt most natural to her. Then again, because of her power, any language felt natural to Karashi.

Karashi wasn’t really expecting to meet someone this energetic, and she wasn’t sure whether she liked him or not. Still, she figured having anyone who was willing to help her was better than having no one. Her parents would be overjoyed if they knew she had already made a friend on the very first day. She would have to call them later to let them know how her day went. This start was certainly going to prove for a very interesting day. At least Karashi hoped so.

Karashi smiled a small smile at him. “I appreciate your kind gesture. I literally just walked through the door and my bags aren’t even unpacked yet. You could help me do that and then we can go for a tour.” She stood aside, gesturing inside for him to come in. “I know we went to the same school, but how come we have never met before? Seems like we should have in such a great school. And why are you here and not there?” Karashi covered her mouth. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be asking these questions. I just met you!”

[Deleted]

"//Um...//" Junpei nervously scratched his cheek, "//I actually don't speak English that well yet, so I prefer Japanese when I can.//" After all, why should he try so hard to communicate in such a difficult language when they both spoke the same one natively? Though it was true, it wasn't going to help him with his own English skills, then again, Meian-sensei and his wife were very accommodating to his struggles. And so was this girl, Karashi, it seemed, which Junpei appreciated very much.

Junpei's eyes widened a bit when Karashi mentioned that she had only just arrived a few minutes ago and he felt compelled to apologize. "//I'm sorry! Would you like me to come back later?//" Though if she was ok with it, then Junpei would be pleased to help her with her things. "//Yes! I can help, it's no problem!//" At her invitation, Junpei nodded his head humbly and entered with a smile, standing by for any instructions or indications Karashi might give as to what she wanted him to do specifically. After all, one shouldn't just touch a lady's things without their express permission.

"//Well, we might have just had different classes. Also, I didn't get out much, I spent most of my time studying.//" Back then, Junpei was still under a lot of pressure from his family to be the perfect image of an "heir" to the Hirai name. He laughed though, when she apologized. "//No, it's fine. I don't mind answering.//" And Junpei, the polite person he was, couldn't help but answer instinctively when posed with an honest question. Unless it was something he was particularly disturbed about, though in those cases, he would politely infer it to be an unpleasant topic and hope it was quickly dropped. "//If you don't mind my asking, why did you decide to transfer?//"

[Karashi Usaki]

Karashi giggled. “Japanese is my natural tongue, so whenever I can is every single time I talk.” She found this teen to be very quirky, but she liked it. It made her smile, something she hadn’t done since she had been back home pleasing her parents. She frowned. Home. She was a long way from there, but she shook her head. She needed to focus on the here and now, and especially this boy that was now in her dorm. Karashi only hoped that she wasn’t breaking any rules.

Karashi was relieved at his sudden willingness to help. She closed the door behind him and followed him inside, listening to him explain why they hadn’t seen each other in the meta school of Japan, Eisai Gako. She felt as if she should know him somehow, and yet she didn’t. Still, the reason he gave was almost the same reason that she had for being so isolated. “Same! I mean, my parents wanted me to do well in school, so they figured friends would get in the way of that…” Karashi looked away.

When he asked Karashi why she was there, she frowned. “Wait a minute, you never answered my question! Isn’t that the polite thing to do?” She looked at him, tilting her head. Her long amber colored locks shifted off her shoulder, dropping to about halfway down her back before settling. She then looked over at her bags, remembering why Junpei was there in the first place. “Oh! You can start unpacking that bag while I tackle this one.” She gestured to the one on the bed, and pointed to the one on the floor so he would know what she was talking about. Karashi got a bit distracted sometimes.

[Deleted]

Junpei quirked his head a little in confusion, not quite understanding the meaning behind what she said. She was Japanese, so of course Japanese was her natural tongue, right? And not all Americans spoke Japanese, so it would be in those instances where he(and she too maybe?) couldn't. Right? And then she frowned.....was there something wrong that he wasn't aware of? Though she seemed to shake it off instantly, so maybe it was nothing? Junpei rose an eyebrow in confusion as he watched her expressions jump around.

Junpei smiled sympathetically. He understood where she was coming from perfectly, a lot of pressure often came down from his aunt and uncle, who were the most intensely unpleasant people he'd ever known....no, he shouldn't think that about them, they had their reasons, certainly. Even if their condescending nature made him want to rip his hair out. Which was why he had traveled the whole distance to America in the first place, so he wouldn't continue to live under that pressure and could progress at his own pace, which was a pace that predominated even at the persistent urgings of his family to do better. "//I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you.//"

But then she was scolding Junpei because he had glazed over her other question, one which he was not entirely prepared to answer in any respect. The boy gave Karashi a generally polite smile and simply said, "//I just needed a change so...//" he trailed off, suggesting that it was a topic he was uncomfortable with and preferred not to answer. As such, he wouldn't expect one from her either.

Junpei nodded when she pointed to one of the bags and started directing him. "//Sure!//" However, he was starting to wonder if it was Ok to be going through a girl's bag? What if he found something in there that she didn't want him to see? He shrugged it off and determined that it should be safe since that was the instruction Karashi gave. He unzipped the bag and started removing the contents, every so often holding up an item and asking her where she wanted it if the answer wasn't plainly obvious. As he did so, Junpei continued with the small talk. "//So, what's your power?//" Which seemed to be the next logical question.

[Karashi Usaki]

Karashi frowned. “Upset me? You didn’t upset me. I was just thinking of home, and the fact that I asked you a question first. Considering you’re from Japan, I would assume that you would know this, but you might have been from a different part than me, so the customs might be different.” At this point she was rambling, something she usually did when she was nervous. She had never been this close to a boy before except for school, but that was a completely different story. Karashi went silent again, trying to keep her nerves down.

Karashi noticed that he dodged her question ever so slightly, and she realized that it was a delicate situation that she shouldn’t have brought up. “Now it’s my turn to be sorry…” she told him, looking back at her bag as she continued to unpack it, putting things on her desk and in her drawers. Occasionally she would point him in the direction when he asked her where something else went. She would deal with the last bag herself, since it was her delicates. Karashi kicked the bag underneath her bed. “I’ll worry about that one later.”

Karashi wasn’t quite sure what to say to his question. She thought for a moment, and then smiled. “I think I could explain it better if I just showed you.” With that, she started to say how cute he was in different languages she had learned through the meta school in Japan, and then stopped. She only hoped that he couldn’t understand half of what she said. If he did, the situation would become very awkward. With that, she smiled at him. “Well, that’s my power… Although most of it’s broken and I still talk way too fast. What Karashi was a bit confused about was why he hadn’t asked her what she was doing there herself.

[Deleted]

He….supposed that that could have been the case. But really, it was just a matter of Junpei being absent minded and forgetting of the question previously. Either that, or he deliberately chose to ignore it because it was not a question he wished to answer, which he so eloquently and strategically dodged when the matter reasserted itself.

Junpei's reasons for leaving home were hard to hide from people who knew of his family situation, like Meian-sensei and his wife and daughters, but from someone who was practically a stranger, it was easy to at least avoid the subject. "//It's alright,//" he assured her as he continued to work at unpacking the bag. He nodded when she kicked another bag under her bed and declared to unpack it later. Which was understandable, Junpei didn't expect it appropriate to go through all her bags, there must've been some that contained things she needed to care for herself.

After he asked of her power, Karashi offered to show it to him instead of simply explaining it. Which was understandable, Junpei's power too was hard to explain in simple words, especially in English, so he often just showed it.

He was…a bit perplexed, hearing her suddenly speaking in tongues, many of which didn't sound the same, some he recognized even if he couldn't understand them, and most he didn't recognize. "//I see…..//" Junpei said, his mouth slightly agape. Though now he wondered if he should show her his power now, or if it would just seem like he was showing off.

[Karashi Usaki]

Karashi frowned. He was still avoiding her question, and even though she wanted to question him about it a third time, she decided against it. Maybe there was a reason that he hadn’t answered her the first two times. There was that old cliché ‘third time’s the charm’, but in this case, she thought it better to refrain from putting that cliché into motion. She didn’t want to come off as rude, and if he had wanted to tell her, he probably would have by now. Karashi wasn’t one to pry any further.

Karashi smiled, seeing the reaction he gave to her showing off her power. That was the normal reaction she got from meta-humans who didn’t know what her power was. She was used to it by now. “Do you like it, or does it seem weird?” She frowned, taking a seat on the bed. She wanted this boy to be her friend, but she was bad at small talk and most meta-humans just looked at her funny. She usually thought that it was just because she was Japanese, not because of her power. Karashi’s main goals were to gain friends and perfect her power. So far it was going pretty slow.


((Sorry for the short reply! I'm suffering from writer's block atm! >.<))

[Deleted]

Junpei was a little bit baffled by the sheer openness of this girl. And persistence. However it was definitely a good idea that she did not question him a third time, otherwise he might have snapped at her unintentionally. There wasn't much in this world that bothered Junpei, but prying into subjects he didn't want to talk about was one of those things that pressed his buttons, especially when it involved his family. His aunt and uncle, Tadayuki and Mio, were, for a lack of a better term, unpleasant people and were the primary reason for Junpei leaving Japan. Just the thought of it tended to make his chest tighten and his heart sink along with his sense of self, reminded that nothing he ever did was good enough for them and yet was never allowed to take a break nor do something different.

Junpei wasn't sure what to think of Karashi's power either. From what he gathered, she had the capability to speak in many different languages as if it came naturally to her. Junpei didn't think he'd come across anyone with that kind of power, though he did know that there was someone who lived in the co-ed dorms(a reclusive roommate to the scary boyfriend of Junpei's friend) with a similar power, however rather than spoken language, it was abstract things like mathematics, music, and computer coding. "//No, it's not weird at all. Actually, I know a lot of people with even stranger powers, so I don't think it's appropriate to call it weird.//" He smiled, recalling a few memories of events past. "//My girlfriend can make caterpillars in her hair. And one of my other friends, he has fairy wings, even though he's a man.//" Junpei stood up, and smiled reassuringly down at her. "//Powers are powers in my opinion. Some are different, some are simple, and some...can be dangerous.//" Like Junpei's. Or Meian-sensei's. Junpei had even heard of some pyrokinetics who had injured people with their power. "//But, I guess I can say I like all powers, regardless. And yours is really unique, and I like that.//"

Though after that little speech, Junpei turned a faint shade of red, feeling a bit sheepish for saying those kinds of words so easily, and to a girl he'd only just met too! "//Of course,//" he started again, trying to clear up any sort of misunderstanding, "//this is just something that my grandmother has taught me.//"

[Karashi Usaki]

Karashi smiled at him, relieved that it wasn’t just her who he knew that had a power like she did. She was used to being an outcast, but it definitely felt so good to be normal (or what she considered normal at least) at this school. Even though she had just gotten there, she felt like she already fit in. She hadn’t been so sure about the school at first, having gotten weird looks from other kids as she had arrived at the front of the school. Karashi definitely felt much better now.

Karashi smiled and then blushed, looking away. Why, she didn’t know, but she mentally scolded herself. Now was not the time to even begin thinking about relationships. She needed to focus on her studies and those always came first, no matter what. “Well thank you. I appreciate the compliment.” She really did. Back at the Eisai Gakko, no one talked to her unless they absolutely had to, such as for projects. Karashi didn’t really get very many compliments.

Karashi giggled. “Well, your grandmother taught you well.” She then frowned. All this talk about powers had reminded her that she hadn’t seen his yet. “So, since I’ve shown you what I can do, do I get a favor in return?” The way she worded it was strange, but she was trying to joke around, and hopefully he caught the hint. If not, there would be some more awkwardness, and Karashi wasn’t exactly sure just how much awkwardness she could handle.

[Deleted]

Oblivious Junpei wondered what was wrong and why she looked away but decided not to comment, instead just sending Karashi a smile that he hoped was reassuring. He understood how difficult it was when he first arrived, but Junpei was also very astonished and interested in learning and meeting such a different crowd of people than what he had back in Japan...not that he socialized much with his peers back then, but he still felt more comfortable and in place here than he did back home. Or at least there was less pressure for him to deal with here. "//You're welcome.//"

When Karashi complimented his grandmother, his eyes brightened, obviously in adoration for such a wise woman. "//Yes! She's very wise, at least I think so. She teaches me a lot about being a good person.//"

Junpei caught the hint and he nodded, completely intent on returning the favor of power sharing. But was he going to demonstrate? Maybe... "//My power is called Energy Imbuement. It's a kind of energy manipulation. I can transfer my own energy into another object to make it do something or a short time.//" The most common uses he had were on his origami to make flying cranes or on his skateboard for a continuous roll. Junpei scanned the room and picked up a small object from the desk."//Like this...//" he said, and he concentrated. The item glowed slightly as he felt his energy flow into it with a particular set of commands, and then he released it gently, leaving it to float in the air in front of him.

[Karashi Usaki]

Karashi giggled. This kid was full of energy, and she wondered if that had anything to do with his power. He seemed a lot more energetic than most Japanese people she knew. Then again, she didn’t know that many Japanese people, so she really didn’t have room to talk. Still, she had her doubts… She smiled at him. He seemed like such a sweet guy. She shook her head. She couldn’t be thinking about relationships now! Hadn’t she just gone through this like five minutes ago? Karashi’s memory was shit.

Karashi smiled again. It was clear that this boy loved his grandmother very much. Unfortunately, she didn’t have any grandparents left to enjoy the wisdom that they held inside them. She frowned. “I wish I had some grandparents to learn from. That sure would be nice.” She wasn’t trying to make him pity her. She really did wish she had grandparents. Sometimes she needed their advice, and they weren’t there to give her that advice. Karashi missed them.

Karashi nodded when he told her he would demonstrate. She watched as he picked up a pencil that she had put neatly on the desk. She would have to put it back later exactly how she had it, or else it would drive her crazy. She had a bit of OCD. Her jaw dropped when he made it float into the air. “Wow that’s cool!” She then had an idea. She pulled the bag out from underneath her bed, and rummaged around in it. Karashi was looking for something in particular.

After about five minutes of rummaging, Karashi finally found what she was looking for: an origami crane. She always made them when she needed to relax or was bored. She had a ton of them sitting on her desk at home and hanging around her room, and she planned to make some more later this year to decorate her dorm room. She smiled and held it up to him. “Can you make it fly? It would be really cool if you could!” Karashi was so excited now.

[Deleted]

Junpei wouldn't have been able to comment on whether or not he was full of energy, but he certainly was friendly and enthusiastic about being so. It was one of the thing that Junpei loved doing, meeting new people, and that always got him a bit excited. "//Ah. I'm sorry to hear that,//" he spoke with a sensitivity in his voice. Junpei shouldn't brag about his own grandmother when Karashi didn't have that same fortune, though he did wonder under what circumstances she lost them? Karashi was still so young, it was unusual that she didn't have at least one around.

Junpei expected the reaction, that was usually the kind of reaction he got, but it was also because people didn't wholly understand what it was his power could do. He'd explained enough of it to Sebastian, but Junpei still wasn't sure he understood, and knowing the boy's fear of potentially dangerous meta-powers, Junpei didn't elaborate. Yue was aware by now.

By the time Karashi had finished rummaging, the pencil had long lost it's lift and he set it back down on the desk where he found it; a part of his own tendencies to leave a place exactly as he found it, as if he had never passed through, borne from the strict environment he was raised in. Junpei nodded with excitement at the appearance of a paper-crane. "//Yes, that's actually my favorite trick.//" Junpei loved origami, one of his goals was to be able to make a thousand paper cranes fly for a wellness-wish one day.

Junpei took the crane, holding it deftly in gentle hands, and concentrated yet again. He released the crane into the air like one would a dove and there it circled around the room, twitching and flapping like it was trying to be a real bird. "//.…..this is the small range of what I can do. On a larger scale, I can move larger things or make different effects with my energy transference.//" If he so wanted, and he never did, Junpei could make kindling from the same paper crane.