...Right from the Start (Open)

[Kousuke Nanohara]

As Kousuke Nanohara rushed down the halls, he carefully unwrapped some of his sacred stash and popped it into his mouth.

It was "Black Black", one of those crazy imported snacks from his other homeland. God bless the Japanese for inventing caffeinated gum. It was probably against Hammel's rules, but he didn't care. He needed it. He was going on three days without any real sleep between the pre-trip anticipation, the very long, very cramped flight, and another nervous evening in an unfamiliar bed. Usually not one to care about his appearance, he was even sporting his glasses and tassled his hair over his face because he knew he looked like the walking dead.

Er, running dead. Kousuke kept up his pace, groaning even as he began to chew and the slight buzz tickled his tongue. He had hoped that he'd be able to get through the day as quietly as possible. Sit at the back of all his classes. Try to avoid questions or being bugged by anyone. Return to the safety of his dormroom, which thankfully consisted of only him so far. Wash, rinse, repeat until graduation.

It would've worked great if he knew where his classes were.

In the confusion of the night prior, Kousuke had managed to lose a some of those papers he'd been given right after his arrival. He was sure his class schedule was among them... wherever they were.

He'd toyed with the idea of tapping into whatever network the school had. It wouldn't be to change anything, just to check where he's supposed to go, but he didn't want to get in that kind of trouble already. He'd tried to hack into the school accounts back at Eisai once -- once -- and the backlash still sent shivers down his spine. Besides, if this school was worth anything the job would take a lot more energy than he had at the moment.

Kousuke nearly skid to a stop as he came to a particularly important looking door off the main hall. Sure enough, it read "main office". As he looked to it, the tingling from the gum seemed to travel from his tongue throughout his entire body. He wasn't nervous, was he? He tried to shake the feeling off as he muttered an "excuse me..." under his breath and pushed open the door.

[Jethro Harker]

There was a thump and the door stopped in its path. On the other side a string of vicious expletives could be heard issuing forth from an unknown source. It was a mixture of slightly out-dated Japanese slang, German pejoratives and Spanish vulgarities, peppered with bouts of rather creative English obscenities.

A second later the door was wrenched open the rest of the way and there stood all six feet of a particularly wild-eyed Jethro Harker, his white shirt looking rumpled and several drips of red on the collar. His nose was turning red and a dribble of blood running from one of his nostrils. It would expected that Jethro would be livid about being smacked in the face with a door but he fixed Kousuke with a particularly ghastly grin, his mouth tinted red from a slightly split lip.

His hands darted forward and grabbed Kousuke's shoulders in case he tried to bolt. "I really, really, hope you did not have plans in there because now it is time for a chat." Jethro said, his voice was remarkably controlled for someone who had just been smacked square in the nose with a door. "I'm going to take it on faith that this was an accident but the problem remains that I'm currently bleeding from the nose and you're responsible." He sniffled nosily and watched his captive audience carefully.

"Well, my fine friend? What do you purpose we do about this little incident?" The question was weighted, Kou's reaction to it would likely determine exactly how angry Jethro got. Right now, he was controlled and calm but being smacked in the nose was bound to ruin anyone's good mood. He took a moment to wipe his mouth on his sleeve, leaving a small red smear on it.

[Kousuke Nanohara]

It took Kousuke a moment to realize that the door didn't quite open as it should have, so he just stared. So ensued a round of yelling, and a guy looking about his age and height appeared in between him and the office. The guy's face was bloodied and he wore a grin. Kousuke just blinked. Then new guy grabbed onto him and the gears finally started turning.

What the--? Immediately, he moved to pry the guy's hands off of him, at the same time one if his canned remarks spilling out of his mouth. "Look... I'm sorry, but," he started, his voice a low drone. "I'm not going to kiss your boo-boo to make it all better--" Before he went on, Kousuke bit his tongue. Said boo-boo was his fault, and even he couldn't put it past a guy getting mad for getting his face smashed.

But this guy didn't look angry. The bloodied Dr. Hannibal grin made it look like the guy was less concerned about his own face, and more... like he was going to bite off part of Kou's.

He really didn't know what this guy was going to do, and the fact that he was acting so pleasant was extremely unnerving. For all Kousuke knew, the guy was crazy enough to drag him outside to bloody his lip. Or shoot him with lightning or turn him to stone or whatever he did. Kousuke sighed. He was much too tired to deal with this, he just wanted his freaking schedule, and that was it!

He hung his shoulders, opting to just oblige the guy so he could move on with his life. "Okay then, what should we do?"

[Jethro Harker]

Something occurred to Jethro as he stared at his fellow student, he was positive he had never seen this individual before. He had certainly not met everyone at Hammel but the faces of his fellow students were usually at least vaguely familiar. He could tell that he had already unnerved this guy, so he snorted again and dialed his initial reaction back some. "That's good, 'cause I don't swing that way, pal," he said and let go of him.

Jethro pinched the bridge of his nose with a now free hand. "How about a tissue and some water?" Compared to what the guy was probably imagining, this request was positively mundane. Once again, Jethro almost always seemed scarier than he was. "I have enough trouble getting girls as it is without bleeding all over myself."

He gave the guy a solid, brotherly swat on the shoulder. Jethro had been wronged but the boy who had wronged him had admitted he was at fault, apologized and offered to make it right. For an accidental wounding like this, that was about all he really wanted. "This ain't the first time I've had my nose bloodied, and probably won't be the last. Help me stop the bleeding and we'll call it even. That sound fair?"

He paused as something else occurred to him, "You got a name, pal?"

[Kousuke Nanohara]

Kousuke flinched as the guy hit him in the shoulder For a guy that claimed he didn't swing his way, he certainly was friendly. Much too friendly for Kousuke's tastes. Another slew of choice words flooded his mind, but again, he held his tongue. It was too early for trouble. He was on a mission to get that schedule remember? Focus.

"Yeah... okay, whatever," he muttered, averting his gaze. Out of the corner of his eye, he could that the guy's nose was indeed still bleeding, and he felt the tiniest twinge of remorse.

"Kousuke Nanohara. 'Kou' is fine." He chewed a few times on his gum, opting not to ask his accidental victim his name. Kousuke was hoping for the best, and the best would be never talking to this guy again after this. Instead, he addressed a more practical matter. "Look, I'm kind of new here, so I have no idea where anything is." The main office was obviously in the front of the building, but everything else would be a guess. He figured that his campus map was in zerospace along with his class schedule.

[Jethro Harker]

"Wow, you'd think a tissue and some water is a damned death sentence," Jethro said leaning against the wall. "Now head in there and politely ask for a tissue and some water along with whatever it is you're after." Jethro knew the office staff was watching the door with interest. His string of expletives probably drew more than its fair share of attention when he rattled it off.

He was sending Kou in alone on purpose. From the way the boy was reacting to him, Kou could use some experiences of being outside of his comfort zone. "After that I'll show you around and show you the ropes. Just do me a favor and try not to hang yourself immediately." It was a more literal warning than many would think. Hammel was full of teenagers, the addition of weird powers only exacerbated that condition.

Jethro had been here for three years now and figured he knew the place pretty well by now. Sure, he was never up on the latest gossip or what was fashionable amongst the students but he had more experience with the place than Kou did and that had to count for something.

[Kousuke Nanohara]

(OOC: lolz, there's a time cut here as it would've been longer otherwise! Hope that's alright.)

Kousuke narrowed his eyes at the boy in front of him and considered his words. Getting someone to show him around could be beneficial. Of course, there were places he didn't know the locations of, but there were definitely things to learn about his new home that he couldn't look up on a map. Kou had moved around enough to know how intricate local culture could be, and from the time he'd spend poking around online and chatting the previous night he'd learned that there was quite a lot going on at the school.

Then again, Kou had been through the "awkward new student" phase no less than a dozen times, and he always worked it out on his own. Hammel was very different from most of his other schools, yes, but he didn't need anyone to baby him. Especially not this crazy person talking to him now.

All he had to do is fetch a few things and he'd be left alone, right? Go into the office. Tissues and water. Sure. Grumbling something he couldn't decipher himself, Kousuke leered at the other boy before slipping though the door.


Kou emerged again about five minutes later. Trembling slightly, he held out a paper cup filled with water from the office cooler, and a balled-up wad of Kleenexes. He attempted to peer at the other boy over his glasses, but his eyes ended up seeking refuge on a particular spot on the wall.

So many people... asking him questions... at the same time. Why were so many people in there? Why were they so loud? Why did they all have to give him the third degree when he was only asking for some paper and water? Why did Hannibal kid make him do that?

Kousuke didn't consider himself agoraphobic or anything; most of the time he just didn't care to talk and some situations just overwhelmed him. The only reason he'd been talking freely with this other guy was because he was that pissed at him. He still was. Kou had a mind to snatch the items away again and let the kid bleed out through his nose. And then Kousuke would go back to his room and hang himself anyway, dammit.

Instead he finally fixed his gaze on the other boy, took a deep breath, and willed himself to speak again. "Here's your crap. Can I go now?"

[Jethro Harker]

By the time Kou returned Jethro's nose had stopped bleeding. He stood up and took the tissues from Kou, taking his time to blow his nose noisily and wipe the dried blood from his face before wading them up and stuffing them in a pocket. He then took the water, filled his mouth and swished it around before swallowing it. Licking his lips, Jethro said, "Much better."

Jethro took a moment to consider Kou's request. He could tell the boy did not like him in the slightest. He rubbed his chin, studying Kou's face for a moment. He could not blame the kid, it was a rather sudden meeting and not exactly pleasant to say the least and when he was not careful he could be more than a little unnerving.

"Alright, boyo, I'll let you rabbit if you can answer one question for me. Why do you have a problem looking me in the eye?" He folded his arms and waited for a reply. From his point of view, it looked as though Kou was busy making an antagonist out of him. If that is what Kou really wanted then Jethro could be an antagonist but once again, his misguided faith in humanity forced him to try and stop it.

[Kousuke Nanohara]

There was a part of Kousuke that was disappointed to see that the bleeding had stopped.

But whether he should've gotten upset at that had become a moot point. Depsite the office confusion, he'd managed to get another schedule printed out, and it was now secure in his pocket. It was possible to go on with Plan: Ignore Everyone Until Graduation. Yet, something about the other boy's tone seemed to be urging him to stay. Kousuke didn't take to people telling him that he couldn't do things, and besides, he was looking at him already? There was no way he was going to answer such an inane question.

Stiil, he slowly took the glasses off his face, now completely absorbed into proving guy wrong. There was no reason why he should desire to, but he had absolutely no problem looking anyone in the eye, and was not intimidated by the likes of the boy opposite him. He continued to stare, narrowing his eyes again, and... he noticed it.

Hannibal kid had done that on purpose. Was his meta smelling out people's weak points and picking on them for it? Was he getting some kind of amusement out of this? Kousuke doubted that it was either, but something about the other kid wasn't making sense.

Kousuke's eyes fell to the ground. This time, the break of eye contact had little to do with being nervous or upset. His eyelids had become very heavy all of the sudden. He could already feel the headache coming on, and he was sure that another stick of gum would do little to stop it...

He could work out how he felt about the other kid later. A very urgent need was arising, and since Hannibal had offered to help him anyway, he might as well take it.

Looking to the other boy again, he pressed a pair of fingers to his temple and began to speak. "You said you'd show me around, right? Can you just take me to where can I get some coffee, stat?"

[Jethro Harker]

When Kou finally made an effort to meet his eyes, Jethro's easy smile returned. "Not so hard, can't take the measure your company if you don't look them in the eye." It was a lesson his father had made an effort to drill into Jethro's head and so far it had served him well.

"Coffee? There should be a pot on in the student lounge. Here," Jethro said offering Kou a little packet of ibuprofen. Everyone here got headaches, Jethro knew the look well and always carried either ibuprofen or aspirin with him. Jethro did not get them as often as most but they did still show up from time to time. It was a matter of planning ahead.

"Student lounge is this way. It ain't too far either," Jethro said as he started walking. He took long strides, making it a little difficult for most to keep up with him. Kou looked to be about the same height but it would likely still be a bit of an annoyance to keep up with Jethro.

[Kousuke Nanohara]

Fiddling with the packet in his hand, Kousuke squared his jaw. He didn't know what to make of this guy. Being so pleasant after he'd gotten his nose bloodied... appointing himself to send Kousuke on trials and so forth? Either he had some weird psychic meta or had some sick sense of humor or... it just didn't compute. Maybe on a normal day it would've, but he couldn't think too much about it at the moment.

The pain in his skull was slowly but surely getting worse. Kousuke knew from experience that the medicine would defer his headache, but he wasn't in the clear until he got some more caffeine in his system. He cursed himself for leaving in such haste that morning. He had his own painkillers, as well as some canned coffee and just about everything else he needed in life in his trusty backpack... back in his room. For the moment, all he could do was follow the weird kid.

Who'd already started walking away.

Dashing a bit to follow him, Kousuke tore open the packet and switched the pill for the now flavorless gum that was in his mouth and swallowed it down. When he looked back up again, he noticed how far ahead the guy had gotten. He walked abnormally fast. Picking up his pace again, Kousuke called out to the other.

"Hey, what's your name, anyway?" He was rude for not asking earlier, and he knew it. Despite his still very real intentions to never talk to the guy again, he figured he was overdo for that. The pleasantries wouldn't kill him. Besides the office thing, he'd been rather nice, and considering that Kousuke smacked him the face with a door, everything about evened out.

[Jethro Harker]

((Gonna move this over to the student lounge board))