☼

-— { ϟ } - Having one last stroll through the halls, Roraku hoisted her messenger bag up and over her shoulder, patting it down to make sure she’d collected everything. Students filed out the building in droves, scarcely wasting any of their afternoon on school property. Though one in particular stood out, as he faced opposite the crowd - looking like he’d overcome with a sense of nostalgia.

                “You waiting for someone?”

  The Phoenix was easily pulled out of his thoughts, gaze turning toward the person who had interrupted him. He may have seemed irritated at first glance, but once the question soaked in, his expression thawed and he managed a small smile.

   ☼ - " No...no I'm not. Just lost track of time. "

       “Oh.”

            She sat up slowly and turned so her feet were now hanging off of the bench as she scooted over slightly. A small yawn passed her lips before she stretched slightly and nodded to the stranger. 

                 “It’s all yours dude.”

   ☼ - " It's neither of ours, actually. Belongs to the public. "

  He's not being a jerk about it; he can just be quite oblivious sometimes, and this just happened to be one of those moments when a phrase happened to fly right over his head. 

Rioko was in shame. She never minded the fact that people said she sometimes came off as callous, bored, or nonchalant. What she didn’t want people to think, was that she could come off as someone scared or dependent like a weakling. Rioko is not a weakling, but here she is. Hiding behind a stranger, and too afraid to notice anything else. “I’m fine. I’m just,” Pausing to cringe at how disgusting that Great Dane is drooling. “Deathly allergic to dogs.” She clutched the back of his shirt. Damn her wimpy instincts. 

    ☼ - " Ah. That explains it then. "

  It wasn't like he didn't believe her so it wasn't as if his tone was completely sarcastic. But if she were to really pay attention, hearing the faint snarky attitude may have been easy. He made haste, however, to get the dog away from them by clapping his hands or snapping his fingers. Albeit, the canine stayed put where it was and the Phoenix was beginning to feel the hairs on his neck stand up straight. He wouldn't admit it straight away but he was sort of scared of it too.

   " Uh... go on. Shoo. " 

  Another snap of his fingers and he concentrated a bit of his energy on a point beneath the dog, igniting a small leaf that may have fallen from a nearby tree earlier that day. The Dane jumped, sniffed at the burnt remains and then moved away as if he'd been spooked. It was then when Youko relaxed and checked up on his new companion from over his shoulder.

「 ☀ 」He probably didn’t do the other any help by saying anything in the first place with the way he had sounded. Although, he didn’t mean any harm by it really. It just wasn’t the kind of thing that you went around doing on the daily although, he supposed it would have made for a rather interesting story at the dinner table later that night.             “You sure? I really do feel bad though. Is there something I can do to make it up to you? I laughed too so maybe I owe you twice as much.”

A pause. Right. He probably should have at least told him his name or something. Owed the poor guy that much for dumping water on him. “My name’s Basil by the way.”

Youko continued to tug at the wet strands of brown hair that hung over his eyes and noticed soon after that a thin layer of steam began to rise from his arm. A roll of the eyes and he immediately tried to wipe off the water with his hands. Steam wasn't exactly good for the public image, now was it?

   ☼ - " I guess I could take a towel. Aika wouldn't be pleased if i came home soaked anyway. "

  A sigh and the pair of hazel colored orbs he possessed were gazing upwards to look at the source of this water predicament. 

He was an enthusiastic person, that’s for sure. “Oh! Pax was just wandering around. Yuuto is at work, so Pax wanted to get out and have some fun by himself.” he shrugged, “How about Youko-san?”

    ☼ - " I'd say just about the same. My family is busy doing their own thing so I figured I'd take a walk. I don't get out much, otherwise. "

   The Phoenix was always stuck at home as long as somebody he was close to was there too. He was lucky when they went off to school or work. Even more so when all his successor, Aika, wanted to do was sleep.

          She arched her brow, twisting her mouth in a skeptical manner. Putting the dagger back it’s in sheath, she pocketed it, for now. Carmelia stepped closer to the boy. The chick has seen a lot of things. So instead of dropping it, she poked him around more. “Really. A lighter. Show it to me then.” Crossing her arms, the blond scowled at him. “Show me the lighter,” she rephrased in a more serious tone.

One moment it was like his stomach was clogged up in his throat, but seeing that she put the knife away--for now--he was able to breathe again. Although, the closer proximity only added to the uneasiness as he found himself stepping back when she stepped forward. 

    ☼ - " Ah--? "

Of course, he should have expected this. Quite the idiot this boy; he rarely thought things through before letting it slip out. This was why he always managed to end up in sticky situations.

     Pretty please don’t take the rain away. Sango may be one of the happiest people you’ve ever met, but despite her shining personally, she actually prefers the gloominess of a rainy day than the warmth of a sunny one. The heat has never really been her best friend. With such fair skin, the sun would paint her bright red before she even realized what was happening.

     Little miss baker would probably laugh if he did something like that, not whack him in the privates. Sango considers herself to be different than other girls. She doesn’t scream when she sees a cockroach or cry her eyes dry after getting a paper cut. She’s built a little more stone like. That’s what her mother says, at least.

     Chestnut hues widening in awe, Sango took a step forward to stand in front of the other, reaching up and placing a palm over his clothed chest. "Dude, ya weren’t kiddin’. Let me, like, hug ya or somethin’, and I’ll give ya free cake for a week."

   Youko may have expected a reaction of surprise or even a reply of thanks, but to have her press a hand against his chest threw him off guard. He was the surprised one here, eyes widening just slightly when she spoke and his lips parting so his lower jaw could hang for a few seconds.

   Was he supposed to say something here, or was she going to just hug him like she said she was going to? The only hug he'd ever been given in his entire life (well, this one at least) was from Aika and her Mother. Those were the only two sets of arms he found familiar and so, the request from this girl made it difficult not to over think the situation.

          Her eyes narrowed into a murderous glare. She was calling bullshit, and knowing Carmelia, she had a low tolerance for these kinds of acts. She felt up the handle of her dagger with the base of her thumb. “Then what the hell was that little fire trick?” The girl interrogated; her piercing stare stabbing holes into him. “What are you?" 

    ☼ - " N-Nothing! "

    Oh crap, Youko was in serious trouble here wasn't he? He didn't even realize someone had been watching when he summoned that bit of fire. It wasn't even that much; it could have easily been mistaken for the flame that would burst out of a pocket lighter. She had sharp eyes, and not just for glaring either.

     ”Ooh! Okay! Pax was sure he’d never seen you around before.” he said, hands behind his back as he rocked happily on his heels. “It’s very nice to meet you too, Youko-san!” he grinned.

   Such enthusiasm; it made Youko curious as to how old Pax even was. He seemed a little older than the way he acted, but you could never know for sure these days, could you? Kids were always a lot taller than they should be...lucky them.

    “Pax! Pax is—- Oh right..M-…” he cleared his throat, “I-..I am Pax!”

   Oh. Now it makes sense. He's just one of those people who speak in third person. 

oiseauxfeu started following you

    “Oh hi there! Has Pax met you before? You don’t look familiar to him.”