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Iphianassa Lykaois

"Don't give up - there's no shame in falling down. True shame is to not stand up again."

0 · 582 views · located in Akita

a character in “Akita's Seasons Return”, as played by Kura Ravengade

Description

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"Fools who can't respect the past are likely to repeat it."
Everything I wanted ~ Billie Eilish || Runaway || Galantis
Rush Over Me ~ Seven Lions & Illenium & Said the Sky & Haliene || Goodbyes ~ Post Malone
Code ~ #8A0808




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“It’s more important to master the cards you’re holding than to complain about the ones your opponent was dealt.”



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| Full Name |
Iphianassa {IF-EE-UH-NAH-SUH} Theros {THAIR-OHS} Lykaois {LICK-OUSE}

| Role |
Role 2/Sarcastic and Aggressive Character

| Nicknames and Aliases |
Phia/Phi/Iphi ~ The most common nicknames that most people refer to her as because, let's be honest, Iphianassa is a mouthful.
Iphignea ~ Another one of the most common nicknames that most people refer to her as. A shortened version of her name, such as with Katie from Katherine or Bill from William.
Nassie ~ An endearing nickname from her adoptive parents that is reserved only for them; she secretly hates it because it's so close to 'Nessie' like the Loch Ness Monster, but she doesn't have the heart to tell them.
Phi-Phi {Fee-Fee} ~ A nickname the children around the shrine refer to her as.
Phig {Fig} ~ Only if you really want to make her mad would you risk your neck calling her by this name.

| Gender |
Female

| Age |
20

| Birthday |
June 20th (summer solstice)

| Sexual Orientation |
Bisexual

| Scent |
Waterfalls and Rain

| Accent |
Greecian

| Nationality |
Greek

| Romantic Interest |
TBD

| Ethnicity |
Greecian-Roman

| Social Class |
Lower Middle

| Occupation |
Temple Maiden
Bartender/Waitress

| Place of Residence |
Home/Temple
Bedroom

| Oddities |
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Enhanced Senses ~ She has slightly heightened senses in comparison to other humans; not to the point of being supernaturally enhanced, just more so something she learned over time. Such as when the hair stands up on the back of your neck when someone is watching you, or a twisted feeling in the pit of your stomach. Her senses are a bit better than other humans. This applies to her sense of smell the most, as she can pick up and recognize most scents, and therefore her tastebuds as well, since they're both linked. She is, however, able to recognize sounds fairly easily, such as pick out certain instruments in different songs. Her touch has no enhancement and is simply the same as any other normal person.
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Synesthesia ~ To make a long story short, synesthesia is a neurological disorder that affects 3-5% of people. Simply put, when one sense is activated, so is another at the same time; letters and numbers go along with colors or patterns, sounds transition into colors, or shapes with flavors, for example. Most people who are afflicted with synesthesia generally have more than one form of the disorder. For Iphignea, she experiences Chromesthesia (seeing sounds in color), Grapheme (associating colors with letters and numbers), and Pain Synesthesia (seeing colors associated with pain and other bodily feelings). Because of her synesthesia, she has a slightly heightened sense of creativity and memory, as it's easier for her to associate one thing with another.
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· She has a tendency to play with her hair too much.
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Due to her Synesthesia disorder, she has a difficult time controlling her emotions to the extent that a normal young adult can. When she gets sad, she dissolves into waterworks like a baby; when she's angry, she boils over like lava erupting from a volcano.
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Daydreaming is a consistent issue that Iphignea experiences, and is frequently seen staring off into space, her head in the clouds.
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Her back causes her to have a pretty bad view of her self image, leaving her vulnerable about her features. This causes her anger issues to come to the surface, because instead of crying, she would rather get even. She never wears tube tops or open-back shirts, and sticks to one-piece swimsuits only.
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· She can be very temperamental due to her history and has struggled with anger issues for years. She snaps easily and has learned to channel a lot of her fury into her physical activities and meditation.



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“If nobody cares to accept you and wants you in this world, accept yourself and you will see that you don’t need them and their selfish ideas.



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| Hair Color |
Dark Brown

| Hair Style |
Wavy, usually held up in two braids

| Hair Length |
Waist

| Skin Tone |
Peach

| Complexion |
Fair

| Eye Color |
Turqoise

| Height
5’6”

| Weight |
135lbs

| Body Type |
Hourglass

| Build |
Athletic

| Tattoos |
Back of right hand

| Piercings |
Ears
Belly button

| Birthmarks/Scars |
Back Scars {stretch to stomach}




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"Fear is not evil. It tells you what weakness is. And once you know your weakness, you can become stronger as well as kinder."



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| Personality |
{Reservered, Stubborn, Cold, Aggressive, Protective, Fierce, Loyal, Driven, Kind}
As with everyone, a lot of the molding behind the person that is Iphianassa Lykaois is her history. Had she been born to a wealthy family that spoiled her, she may have become selfish and entitled; however, had she been born poor to a single mother, she may have been rebellious and a trouble maker. For Iphignea, she likes to think that she's somewhere in between the two. While not precisely secretive, Iphignea tends to be very reserved, not in the sense of decency but more so that it pertains to her holding everyone at an arm's length. It's very difficult for her to grow close to others due to the things that have happened to her in the past, and tends to come off as cold and aloof. If anyone who didn't know her was asked, they would say that she had a bad case of Resting Bitch Face, when in actuality, she is simply wary of allowing anyone to come near enough to her to break through her cool exterior and find the warmth that lies beneath. She's very stubborn, to a fault to be frank, and was always told she should become a lawyer because she could argue that the sky was green and the grass was blue. Unfortunately, Iphignea does have a history of anger issues, and has been a repeat customer to her psychiatrists over the years. She is currently on three different medications to assist in regulating her rage and uses her meditation and other physical activities to help channel some of her smothered rage. Obviously, this only helps so much, so she does have slip-ups here and there where her anger will become too much and will bubble over and pour out, sometimes on someone who didn't even deserve it to begin with. She would never physically hurt someone who didn't deserve it, but she would be lying if she said she'd never damaged property or acted out in other ways, especially as a teenager.

Despite all of this, Iphianassa is extremely protective of those she cares about and those that she deems deserving. She's loyal to a fault and will go to the ends of the earth to make sure that those she cares for are protected, safe, and happy. Her persona can come off as very fierce, but for those who know her, it is said that it's in only good ways. She is a very driven young woman, and has accomplished a lot in her short life, despite the bad hand she was given to start with. She will do anything she needs to do to ensure that her life is everything that she wants it to be, and will claw hand and tooth for her goals. She doesn't do anything half-assed and follows everything through to the end. On the brighter note, for those who are lucky enough to break through her cold exterior, they will find a warm, loving, fiercely loyal young woman on the other side, with her arms wide open to accept them.

| Morals |
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Be who you are - own yourself and who you want to be.
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Be dependable
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Have humility & integrity
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Be tolerant of differences
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Never hurt others - only use your skills and talents for the good of all, not out of anger and to exact revenge.

| Likes |
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Exhilarating Experiences {Amusement Rides, Rebelling, etc.}
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Swimming
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· The Outdoors/Sunlight
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Flowers
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Martial Arts
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Alcohol
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Photography
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Sleeping
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Tarot Cards
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Supernatural Things
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Spicy Food
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Bird Watching
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Parkour
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Day Dreaming
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Reading
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Children
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Wolves
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Cooking/Baking
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Hellenism (The religion worshipping the Greek Gods, i.e. the Olympians, nature deities, etc.)

| Dislikes |
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Small Spaces
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Obnoxious and Stupid People
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Most People Really
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Religious Prejudice and Persecution
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Injustice/Discrimination/Bigotry
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· The Cold
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Loud Noises
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Haircutting
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Cockiness/Disrespectfulness
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Her Back/Appearance

| Talents |
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Tarot Reading
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Divinity (i.e. divine rituals, chants/incantations, religious duties, etc. pertaining to Hellenism)
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Supernatural ~ She is well versed in different types of lore spanning across different countries as it's been a keen interest of hers. She is always looking for more information in libraries, online, and in general just around.
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Martial Arts ~ Iphignea specializes in kickboxing and MMA in specific and has been learning since she was 8 years old. She's gained nationwide recognition and has been offered to fight champions from other countries but has yet to actually decide whether or not to do so. She also knows Muay Thai and incorporates that into her kickboxing and MMA fighting styles, but is definitely not nearly as skilled in this art form as the other two.
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Parkour
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Photography
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Yoga/Meditation

| Flaws |
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Stubborn, Strong-Willed, and Independent
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Impatient
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Over Protective
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Temperamental/Easy to Anger
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Distrustful
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Low Self Image/Worth

| Weaknesses |
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Children
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Her Adoptive Family
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Cute Animals
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Long Hair
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Being Weak
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Her History
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Her Back and Self Image/Worth

| Hobbies |
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Martial Arts
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Parkour
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Tarot Card Reading/Fortune Telling
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Supernatural Things
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Photography
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Cooking/Baking
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Meditation/Yoga
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Working Out/Exercising



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"To know sorrow is not terrifying. What is terrifying is to know you can't go back to happiness you could have."



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| History |
The first thing that comes to mind when Iphianassa thinks of her past is pain; the second thing that comes to mind, is the world 'occult'.

Born the youngest daughter out of three to Karisa Andino and Aegus Lykaois, Iphignea was basically doomed from the very beginning to have a sad childhood. Her mother and father were very devout Hellenists, worshipping the Greek Gods with a passion reserved usually for more realistic things, a passion that bordered obsession. In particular, they worshipped the Goddess Artemis, as she was the Goddess of Wolves and the Wolf was their families' animal, hence their last name. They raised their children with iron fists, forcing them to read scriptures, memorize texts, and practice absurd rules, and named their children after Greek figures. Iphianassa was named ironically as soon as her parents saw her blue eyes. In Greek scripture, specifically Homer's Illiad, Iphianassa (or Iphignea) was the daughter of Agamemnon, who accidentally killed a deer in Aulis in the Greek Goddess Artemis's sacred grove. This caused Artemis to harshly punish his fleets, and in order to appease her, he offers to sacrifice his daughter Iphignea. Under the ruse that she is going to marry the Legend Achilles, she is sent to her death. There are many different versions of how the story ends, but Iphignea's favorites are that Artemis actually made her into the Greek Goddess Hecate, or that Artemis whisked her away to the island of Leuke where she actually did marry Achilles. In many versions, it is said that this is why Iphignea's mother Clytemnestra plotted to kill Agamemnon.

In our Iphianassa's life, punishments were frequent and harsh for all of them, but Iphignea received it the worst. Her siblings were born to be physical copies of their parents, red hair and green eyes, and for her, she looked so vastly different that her family and their church shunned her. In particular, her mesmerizing azure eyes that drew people in like bottomless pools of dazzling sapphires made many of the churchgoers uncertain and weary. While all religions carry their own superstitions, her church in particular viewed those with blue eyes as unnatural beings. They believe that blue-eyed people have the ability to see things that normal eyes couldn't, such as the future, spirits, and much more. This scared the other churchgoers, which in turn made them shun her family, causing her parents disdain towards her to grow. Over the years, she received many beatings for the most ridiculous of reasons; her bedspread not being completely straight, her shirt being slightly crooked, sneezing or coughing during any moment that they deemed important. The littlest of things brought on severe beatings that ranged from simple slaps across the face to whippings and food deprivation. By the time that she was five, she was used to the routine of her father pulling her aside and whipping her with a belt. The scariest for her was when her parents would lock her in a dog crate they kept in a closet, and then lock the door, leaving her in the complete dark. They knew her fear of the dark and used it against her, torturing not only her body but also her mind. She would be left a sobbing mess on the floor of the cage, having cried so hard that she puked.

Despite all of the hatred stemming from their religion, Iphignea did see the good in Hellenism, and would find solace in the ability to pray to the Greek Goddess Artemis, as well as the Olympians, that someday she would be freed from the hell that was her life.

Of course, with many abusive parents, they eventually took the abuse too far. They whipped her so severely at the young age of six that she passed out from the pain, and they were unable to get the blood flow under control. She already had many scars from the beatings, but this was so terrible that they knew instantly that they had gone too far. At that point, it was either they take her to the emergency room, or she would die. Fearing the latter outcome, which would bring on a harsher punishment if they were found out later, they rushed her to the nearest hospital, dumping her outside the doors without even attempting to get a nurse, taking off with a screech of the tires. Luckily, it was a busy time, so there were people present who were obviously quite horrified by the scene.

She was rushed into surgery, and thankfully doctors were able to stabilize and save her life. Unfortunately, the protective services in Greece have never been the best, so instead of the police looking into her case, they promised to do something and nothing ever really came of it. Her parents did not attempt to recover her, and so she was treated as an abandoned and orphaned child.

Iphignea spent the next year and a half in and out of the hospital, as well as orphanages once she was healed enough to leave the hospital. She doesn't remember much from this time, but obviously memories of the beatings and hatred from her family and church haunted her. She visited doctors frequently to help with her physical pains as well as her mental problems, but still grew to be an angry child and teenager.

When Iphianassa turned eight, she was visited by a kind couple named Sakura Amore Tanaka-Ito and Akio Eiji Ito. They saw in her the sweet, frightened child she actually was behind her anger, sorrow, and scars. They saw a girl eager to learn and yearning for the love of a family and couldn't leave without her. She came to find out that the woman was a shrine maiden while the man owned and ran their shrine. They had a few other children, most of whom were adopted, and were visiting Greece on vacation when they decided to stop in at the nearby orphanage and see if any of the children caught their attention. After hearing her story, they wanted to meet her, and as soon as they laid eyes on her, they knew they couldn't leave her there. They offered to adopt her and bring her back to Japan, and seeing as she had no reason to remain in Greece, she agreed.

The next decade they raised her as any normal family would and she was loved and treasured as she deserved to be. Her beginning will always haunt her, but the kindness of her adoptive parents managed to mold her into the decent person that she is today. They encouraged her to do well in school and helped her when she asked for it. They enrolled her in different extra activities so she could try her hands at different passions, and pushed her to become strong and know how to defend herself if necessary. When she turned eighteen, they offered to allow her to stay while attending college, but knowing their growing financial troubles, she decided to meet them halfway and attend university classes only part-time while also assisting with temple duties in exchange for her room and living expenses. She does give them money monthly to assist with their debt and bills, but it isn't required of her. Due to this mixed upbringing, Iphignea has become an oddly mixed person, with highs and lows to the extreme and her own odd personal morals.

Now, she spends her days working and helping around the shrines, as well as enjoying her many interests. Despite being adopted and having two older siblings and two younger ones, she will eventually inherit a portion of the temples once her adoptive parents pass and looks forward to carrying on their legacy and her own.

| Other |
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· She has a pair of Cockatoos that are a couple, the male being a rare blue that she named kyanĂłs (Greek for Azure) and the female being a rare pink that she named triantĂĄfyllo (Greek for Rose, TriantĂĄ for short).
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· Iphignea adopted a Tamaskan wolf-dog named Artemis after finding out either the dog be adopted/fostered out, or it would be euthanized, and given her family lineage having such close ties with wolves, she figured it wouldn't be any harm to adopt her.
ÆžÌ”ÌĄÓœÌ”ÌšÌ„Æ· She currently lives at her adoptive families' temples, who allowed her to take over one of the smallest temples to turn into one that would allow her to worship her deities. In return for being allowed to live there after turning 18, as well as having the temple to be her own use, she is expected to host daily rituals for her adoptive families' religion, as well as a sermon once a week on Sunday afternoons. She is also expected to assist in the upkeep and daily chores of the temples and their homes.

| Face Claim |
Rin Tohsaka



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"The minute that you think of giving up, think of the reason why you held on for so long."

So begins...

Iphianassa Lykaois's Story

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Kazutora Miyato Character Portrait: Iphianassa Lykaois Character Portrait: Reiya Goertz
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"Respect your curses, for they are the instruments of your destiny." ~Joseph Campbell
Hex Code ~ #8A0808




”Son of a red!”

The near-expletive escaped the rosy-red lips of a decidedly tough yet pretty young woman, and despite the mixture of a curse and a non-curse, the odd phrase seemed to suit the equally odd woman who said it. The girl in question made a small whimper sound, muttering the color red several times under her breath as she jumped up and down, clutching at the pinky toe on her right foot. It was clear that this was not the first injury she had sustained - the multitude of bandaids on her fingers gave that much away - but despite her astuteness in most things physical, she had yet to master carpentry, and attempting to fix parts of the temple were far more difficult than she could have expected.

So there she was, hopping around the entry arch to her portion of the temple grounds whilst clutching her injured foot. It was obvious that she had been in the process of attempting to fix the arch, as it was definitely on the verge of collapse, but unfortunately for not only her parents but also herself, Iphianassa was not one for do it yourself projects.

With a frustrated sound, Iphignea threw down the hammer she held and it hit the ground with a loud thwack, nearly chipping the cement walkway, and skidded a few feet away. That seemed to only irk her further and in a show of utter irritation, she kicked the arch, shouting, ”You stupid piece of crap!” only to have kicked it with the exact spot that she had so recently stubbed, leading to a follow-up shout of pain as she resumed her hopping, clutching her foot as she dropped to a sitting position on the ground. ”Dammit! I have to school in an hour!” Turning an azure gaze upwards, she glared at the sky. ”Y’know, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you guys cursed me,” she called out, seemingly talking to noone in particular but for her, she was speaking to the gods that she believed so steadfastly in.

After a few minutes, Iphignea seemed to have gathered herself and gotten over her frustration and pain as she pushed herself to her feet once more. Abandoning her current mission, she did tidy up the tools that she had been using to attempt to fix the arch, leaving them in a neat stack at the bottom of the structure in question. With a final glare in the arches direction and a muttered, ”You and I will duke it out later," towards it, she snatched up her backpack and turned to the napping figure of her sweet pup Artemis. With a light pat on the dog’s head, who barely stirred from her early morning snooze in the rising sun, she set off down the temple steps, intent on grabbing a bite to eat before she had to be at school. Rei and Tora were undoubtedly in the process of heading to campus - it really sucked to be the older one when it came to any type of relationship - and as much as she wished to be in the same class, unfortunately it was impossible to make yourself any younger.

Heaving a sigh, she simply moved on from that thought, accepting the fact that at least for now, she would have to suffer without any friends in her class. Instead, she resolved herself to study hard and do as well as possible when it came to her grades, and earn as much money as possible whenever she could.

It was as the saying crossed her mind that she reached the small diner that sat between her temple and the school grounds, and was a few blocks from where she worked as a bartender. As she stepped through the doors, a small bell chimed to announce her arrival, and instantly a cheery face appeared through the swinging door that led to the kitchen.

”Iphignea! How nice to see you! Do you want the usual for breakfast?”

The cheerful voice brought a genuine smile across the young woman’s face as she approached the front counter, sliding into one of the stools that sat at it.

”Yes please, with extra spicy sauce on it,” she requested, dropping her bag down at her feet. The lady gave her a warm smile in return and nodded before she disappeared once more into the kitchen, presumably to deliver her order to the cook.

It didn’t take long for the large serving dish heaped with Mapo Tofu to be delivered, and with a quick thanks to the woman as well as the Gods above for the food, Iphignea happily dug into her dish, practically stifling a moan at the spices rolling across her taste buds.

Finally finished, Iphignea dropped a bill on the counter to cover the tab, bid a quick goodbye to Akane, and whisked off towards campus, intent on being on time as usual.

School wasn't far and she reached it quickly, crossing the grounds towards her first room on the college portion of the campus. She was more than accustomed to being by herself, so it didn't bother her that she walked alone to class. As she did, she ignored the other students who chittered annoyingly around her, gossiping about the latest trends, who had a crush on who, and something about new students joining their school. It wasn't often that they received newcomers in general in their tiny town, and even odder still was the fact that they were starting late in the semester.

Shaking off the passing thought as she reached the doors to her first class, homeroom followed by Philosophy, she slid through them and easily made her way to the back of the room, her peers not even glancing in her direction, almost as though she didn't even exist. Honestly, she preferred it that way - it was better to be ignored than to be hurt by liars, traitors, and cheats, after all. The only people she needed were her family, Rei, and Tora - forget anyone else, and especially forget Haruto, the slimy bastard. After indulging the bitter thoughts for a few moments, Iphignea dropped into her desk near the back of the class. A quick glance at the board at the front told her that the two newcomers that everyone had been talking about would be joining their class, as it said Welcome, Kazumi and Natsuo!. She groaned - how cringeworthy could the professor get? There were only a few desks open, and unfortunately for her, three of the four open ones surrounded the desk that she sat at. What could she say? She was a pariah and she enjoyed it. It was obvious that that would be coming to an end rather quickly, as at least one, if not both, of the new students would be forced to sit near her.

Well, at least she showered today.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Kazutora Miyato Character Portrait: Velonix Orako Character Portrait: Kazumi Orako Character Portrait: Iphianassa Lykaois Character Portrait: Mafuyu Hanazawa Character Portrait: Natsuo Orako
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Code- #FF1493
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Code- #0000CD
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Kazumi wasn't surprised in the least when her sister started shaking a bit, but soon seemed to calm down. It seemed like they got to Vel just in time for both her and Natsuo knew what happened when Velonix was pushed hard enough now, the darker half of her would awaken. So it while their main concern would always be for their sister, a part of them would always be concerned for others too, not just for their safety, but to keep their cover too.

Once Vel said she was okay and left Kazumi's side, Kazumi had to struggle not to laugh when she turned on their brother.

Natsuo was tempted to make a sarcastic remark, but reframed from doing so, not only because he knew that would get more of a lecture from Velonix, but wouldn't get him anywhere either. In his mind though, he didn't think he was making assumptions, he just was making sure the blonde hair guy wasn't one of the ones who hurt his sister. He turned his gaze to Vel's savior as she started apologizing and talking to him. Natsuo would have said something about that, but they heard someone shouting, presumably at the blonde. Both him and Kazumi stayed silent as Velonix handled the situation. She was always good at peacekeeping. Kazumi kept looking back at the two trouble makers to make sure they stayed where they were. She even went so far as to have all the animals in the nearby area keeping an eye on them.

After the teacher left, Velonix started talking again and introduced herself as well as Kazumi and Natsuo. Kazumi smiled kindly and waved when she was introduced and Natsuo mere nodded his head. It took a few minutes but the guy did finally introduced himself and thanking Vel for getting the teacher of his back.

Kazumi spoke up after he finished.

"Thank you for helping our sister Mr. Miyato. Vel, dearie, we need to get to our first class, but we'll make sure these 'boys' go to the headmaster's office and also the nurse's office," she said before turning to the guys who hurt her sister, "Come on you two, let's get going."

"Why should we listen to you?" one of them said, trying to gather up some courage, but it was obvious he was scared.

Natsuo was hoping for a response like that. There was a reason why he always carried a kendo sword while he was here. Moving so fast that only his sisters could see him movie, one minute he was next to Kazumi, the second he was right in front of the one who spoke, the tip of his wooden kendo sword right at the guys' neck.

"Because it's in your best interests. Be lucky we're only giving you this warning. Now move," Natsuo said in a calm, but threatening voice before lowering the wooden sword.

After that, the older siblings left with the two guys in tow. After taking care of that, they finally headed back to the college. Both knew they were a bit late and hoped they wouldn't be in too much trouble. Knocking on the door of the classroom, the professor opened the door and actually looked relieved to see them, but was still a bit cross at their lateness. He did say this while they were still outside the classroom. Kazumi did explain the situation.

"Well, I know this is your first day of school, so I'll give it a pass for now, but this will be your only warning. I hope your sister is fine now. Give me a few minutes and we'll introduce you two." he said before closing the door.

Several minutes later, the professor returned and allowed the pair to come in.

"Class, here are your new classmates. Please make them feel welcome. Ms. and Mr. Orako, please introduce yourselves."

Kazumi stepped up first and was all smiles. She loved being the center of attention and was already enjoying the reactions of the class, especially the guys.

"Hello, my name is Kazumi Orako and I am the oldest of 4. I love to garden and dance and play woodwind instruments. It's a pleasure to meet you and I look forward to getting to know all of you. You're next brother dear." Kazumi said, winking at Natsuo at that last part.

Natsuo rolled his eyes before looking at the class and saying, "Good morning, I am Natsuo Orako. I like to cook and train."

Kazumi couldn't help but tease her brother and said, "And he's single too ladies!"

Glaring at his sister, Natsuo snapped back, "That's not important right now, Kazumi. Shall I tell everyone all the times you've made our kitchen a disaster area? Oh wait, I just did."

He said that last part with a smirk. Kazumi would have exploded, but the professor intervened.

"Thank you both. There are several seats back there near Miss Lykaois. Feel free to sit back there and we'll continue the class."

Both siblings calmed down and nodded. Soon they found themselves near the person the professor indicated. Kazumi sat right next to the girl while Natsuo sat behind his sister. He couldn't help but look at the dark hair girl a few times for she didn't act like the other girls in class, who kept giggling when looking in his direction.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Kazumi Orako Character Portrait: Iphianassa Lykaois Character Portrait: Mafuyu Hanazawa Character Portrait: Natsuo Orako
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mafuyu hanazawa.
dialogue ; #7f9f91. – thought ; #bb7e8c.
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"And...he hasn't tried to call you again since then, has he?"

"No, Mom. I've blocked the last number he called me through anyway, so it'll probably be awhile before he tries again."

"If...if you're sure. I just want you to be safe, okay? If he tries anything more than just talking over the phone, please come visit home for a bit. You know how I just...I would rather you be here with me and the girls, so I can know you're safe."

"Got it, got it, I promise I'm fine though. How would he know where I live? Or where any of us live anyway? He must've found my number on something, don't worry too much, okay? Focus on the girls, and yourself. Did you get that check I sent your way, by the way? It should have arrived a couple days ago."

"Oh, Mafuyu...yes, I got it, but haven't I told you, you don't have to keep sending me these. Keep this money for yourself, don't you want to go out with friends and buy nice meals occasionally?"

"...Yeah, I have enough for that, don't worry about it. Just make sure everyone's getting full meals, okay? I gotta go now though, I'm already going to be late for first hour. I'll call you tonight, alright? Tell those three hello for me."

A tap on his phone screen and the call was over, silence filling his cheap apartment once again for the morning. An unpleasant call, if he was honest, but at least it was his mom who had answered and not his sorry excuse for a father. How many times had the man gotten a new number or called from a public phone to try and get ahold of him? Was this the fourth? He didn't know, nor did he care at this point. Hopefully, his words had been strong enough to get the man to give up this time, but in the back of his mind he felt that was unlikely.

Falling back onto the pile of blankets on his bed, he stared up at the ceiling, sea green eyes going empty for a moment. If the man kept on insisting on reentering his life - for less than pure ideals no doubt - he wasn't sure what he'd do. Not that he even had time to think about it; he really was already late for class at this rate, and he wasn't really in the mood to get chewed out by his professor in front of the whole class if he could avoid it.

Sitting up again, his hand swung out to snag the backpack sitting lazily on the floor, zipping up the open pack as he walked over, and then shoving his feet into an easy pair of shoes. Skateboard in hand soon after, the keys to his apartment swung around his finger like a disc as he stepped out the door, pulling it shut with his foot and then locking the...particularly unreliable deadbolt, now that he was looking at it. How long until that just broke off the door on its own? At least none of his neighbors had tried to break in yet.

Down the shoddy steps and onto the old asphalt, he moved past the few cars littering the apartment's parking lot before letting his skateboard drop onto the ground with a clatter, and up he stepped. Its wheels roll him down to the sidewalk just a short ways away, and as he hits the more even ground and reaches a smooth drift, he puts his foot against the concrete to pick up the speed, hands moving to tie his hair back into a lazy ponytail all the while. Just a short way to the class, but even the fresh breeze of the quaint town's air and some sense of freedom for a moment lets him relax his nerves, let go of the stress from this morning and just...be.

His apartment wasn't all too far from campus, luckily, and soon enough he found the sidewalk leading him right into it, dodging past a couple of the students as he rode past, before kicking the board into grass to let it slow down and pick it back up. Trying to go around in the more crowded spaces here would probably get him in trouble, or leave him crashing into some unlucky classmate, and he wasn't really keen on doing that. A couple hey's, some waves, an exchanged high five and then he's already in the building where the...philosophy class was being held. By god, why, did he have to take philosophy? He didn't really feel like questioning life anymore than he already did in general, but it was required, so alas, here he was, stuck staring at the closed door of his classroom, trying to ready himself to face his classmates and professor within for being - a quick glance to his watch - ten minutes late already. Have mercy, ma'am, please don't mark me down as absent.

Shifting the skateboard around so the decal on the deck was facing towards him instead of the crowd within, he pushed the door open with a nudge of his foot, and then slipped inside.

"Mafuyu Hanazawa. Late, again."

Wow, not even a second to breathe. Not even a chance to sneak. Just rip the bandaid right off lady, he could probably take it anyway.

Looking towards the woman who stood at the front of the class with her arms crossed - the chalkboard behind her was welcoming two people, guests? Visitors? New students? - and as she tapped an impatient finger on her arm, he jokingly brought his own arms up to shield over himself, smile breaking through as he did, "Aiya~ please have mercy Ms. Nishihara! I promise it won't happen again!" A pause, he lowered his arms before giving an awkward smile, a short bow, a quiet tone. "I'm really sorry ma'am, I had some family matters come up."

A roll of her eyes, she gestured her hand off to a vague area of seats, to which he spotted unfamiliar faces and another he couldn't possibly forget: Iphianassa. "Hurry up and take a seat so we can get started, Mr. Hanazawa. We don't need anymore distractions for today, we're already short on time." A quick nod, and Mafuyu shifted around to make his way up to the spot left in the classroom, letting himself half fall into the seat next to the boy. His skateboard on the ground and backpack following, he shuffled out a notebook and pen while their professor began her lecture, as...unengaging as he usually found it. Only two weeks in...how am I going to survive this semester?

Still he leans forward slightly in his seat towards Iphianassa, giving a lopsided smile in her direction as he spoke, keeping his tone quiet, "heya, Phig. Wanna introduce me to these two? You were here when they were introduced you know." A pause, he glanced to both of them, giving slight waves even if he paused at the pink haired one. "Nice to meet you both, mhm, sorry I caused a scene on the day you arrived. I've only been late twice now, promise. Name's Mafuyu Hanazawa, nice to meet you."

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Kazutora Miyato Character Portrait: Velonix Orako Character Portrait: Iphianassa Lykaois Character Portrait: Reiya Goertz
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Reiya never liked gossip, but school had been buzzing with it about a new students. She was very familiar with how rare it was for the town to get new residents. She herself had generated such a response a few years ago when she moved here from Germany. It did die down within a couple of weeks, but that brief time wasn't easy for her. It was a huge learning curve to get use to Japan's school system. Add that, plus getting use to Eastern culture, meeting new people, AND making sure her parents' company ran smoothly in her absence, it was very hard for a 14 year old, even though that young lady was labeled genius. She actually could have easily decided to start at the college level when she moved here, but knew that she already stuck out like a sore thumb just being ONE year ahead of others her age. So while the classes she had were very easy and she was a straight A student at the head of her class, she still felt awkward being around others her age. Only person she enjoyed being around was her good friend, Iphianassa, also known as Iphi. Despite being several years older than years, the two met when Reiya wanted to check out a local temple where Iphi worked and the two just seemed to hit if off. That had happened no long after Reiya moved to Japan.

At the moment Reiya was waiting for homeroom to start. Again students here were talking about new students. Reiya would admit, she was curious on who they were and wondered if she would run into either of them. Very likely since Akita's school system wasn't very big. It wasn't long before the warning bell rings and someone she knew shows up; Kazutora Miyato. She only knew him because they both were friends with Iphi. Well, for Reiya, it seemed like Kazutora was more like a sibling to Iphi. When school initially started and she learned she and the blonde shared classes together, she did make a point to tell Iphi this and knowing Iphi's concern for the boy, told her she would keep an eye on him. A lot of help she had been though, the guy seemed to attract trouble wherever he went. Like right now it looked like he'd been in another fight since he was carrying an ice pack. Plus it didn't help that Reiya found him very intimidating and that was why she herself hardly spoke to him.

Soon the 2nd bell rings, and Reiya automatically sits up, waiting for the teacher to show up. She does just a second later and after greeting them all, said they were going to get a new student today. Reiya's eyes opened wide a bit. Looks like she was going to meet one of them sooner rather than later. Soon, the new student comes in and Reiya automatically could tell the girl wasn't of Asian descent. Then again, Reiya was 1/2 Japanese, and she didn't look a thing like her Japanese relatives, having gotten her looks from her father's side. Only physical trait she got was her petite stature and to some extent, her height. The teacher mentioned that they would also be getting the girl's brother too, but he hadn't arrived yet. Reiya couldn't help but frown and wondered where the other new student was. In the meantime, her attentioned turned back to the new female student. The girl introduced herself as Velonix Orako, listed a few of her hobbies, and said a few more things. Glancing around, Reiya caught the looks of some of the students, especially the boys looking at Velonix. Typical behavior, still Reiya couldn't help but feel drawn to the girl herself for some reason. She just had this . . . . aura . . . about her that made you want to be around her. It was a weird feeling to be sure.

When the teacher instructed Velonix to sit down, the girl called out to Kazutora. Now that came as a surprise. When did these two meet? Before class? Seeing the condition Kazutora was in, she wondered if this happened before or after his fight. All thoughts exited her head when one of the boys grabbed ahold the new girl. She couldn't help but listen into the conversation and began to admire Velonix for standing up for Kazatora, who looked bewildered by her words. At that moment, Reiya felt a bit of shame. She knew Kazutora had been bullied, yet she never really sought to see if he was ever okay. Well, that was going to change right now. So despite fear rising in her own belly, she quickly got up, grabbed her things, and headed back towards Kazatora and Velonix, and sat in front of the blonde guy. She didn't say anything but looked at the teacher as the class began.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Kazumi Orako Character Portrait: Iphianassa Lykaois Character Portrait: Mafuyu Hanazawa Character Portrait: Natsuo Orako
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"Sorry, sarcasm falls out of my mouth
Like stupidity falls out of yours."
~Unknown

Speech Code ~ #8A0808
| Thought Code ~ #045FB4




As she waited, Iphignea withdrew a cold water bottle from her bag and took a quick swig from it. Recapping it, she returned it to her bag and was in the process of removing a notebook and textbook and straightening once more when their homeroom professor made her way into the room. She leaned back in her seat, knees and arms crossed over one another, an unimpressed expression on her face. She stopped behind the desk, set a stack of papers, files, and books that she had with him on top of it, and cleared her throat before making her way around to the side of the desk.

“Before we continue with our lessons from last week, I have an announcement to make.” The chatter of the students quickly died off, as a special announcement wasn’t a common occurrence in their quiet school. Once the classroom was silent and Professor Nishihara was satisfied with the full attention of the class, she continued. “We have a couple of new students joining us today.” Immediately she threw up her hand to stem the excited titter that quickly sprung up at this news. “Now, I know it’s odd to have new transfers at this time of the year, but let’s all attempt to give them a warm welcome. Please make sure to provide any help they may need as they make this adjustment to joining us here at our lovely university. I expect you all to be as accepting as possible,” she finished with a very pointed look in Iphianassa’s direction. This earned her an eyeroll in response, which she reciprocated before turning to the door to the room. As soon as she turned away, she stuck out her tongue. “You two can come in now,” she called out before turning back to the class once more. “Please welcome Natsuo and Kazumi Orako. Mr.- and Ms. Orako, please introduce yourselves and let us know something interesting about you,” she said, motioning to the small classroom as he spoke.


As the two entered the room, the class fell silent. Despite the pair’s obvious relation due to their last name and them transferring in together, they looked nothing like one another. They both were, however, ethereally beautiful. An odd sensation crawled across Iphianassa’s skin as they made their way across the front of the room to the center to stand beside the teacher. It wasn’t that her skin was crawling, per-say, but more like her hair was standing on end. She wasn’t afraid, though, so why it was doing that was baffling to her; but what she did know, though, was that something was off about these two, and despite her piqued curiosity, she forced herself to remain nonchalant. It was none of her business, and why would she care anyway? They were just two random, strange kids that she didn’t even know.

Her curiosity was unable to be fully contained, however, as she studied the pair. The girl was small and reminded Iphignea of cotton-candy with her bright coloring, and she had a warm yet fierce presence about her. She definitely struck her as someone that she could possibly become friends with, but who knew. Moving on, her eyes slid over to the boy who had come in with her, for the first time actually able to see his face.

Almost instantly her mouth went dry. Her heart skipped a beat in her chest and she felt her breath hitch. His dark features stood out in stark contrast to his pale skin, giving him an odd beauty that wasn’t handsome nor sexy, yet somehow both at the same time. His dark eyes seemed to bore into her soul and she felt herself enraptured by them. She could feel her cheeks heating up as a soft flush entered them, brushing across the rest of her body as it did. Forcing herself to lick her lips, she somehow managed to tear her gaze from his, lowering it to her desk in a strangely-subdued manner that was odd for her normally-fiery personality. Something about that boy had struck her dumb, and she didn’t like it.

Peaking a look back up to the front, she quickly looked back down at her desk and opened her textbook to a random page, eyes skimming over the words but not actually taking in any of them. Her mind was racing and she couldn’t stop it, but she could at least keep herself from staring at the new kids like some sort of heathen. She listened as they made their introductions, and when they jibed at each other like normal siblings did, she felt a pang of sorrow over the lack of love that her blood sisters had held for her. Shaking it away quickly, however, she listened to their retorts and at the mention of the new man’s - Natsuo’s, she should say - current relationship status, she felt her cheeks flush a bit, out of - what? Excitement? What was with this reaction? The hushed, gossipy chatter around her was a clear indicator that the other students found the two new siblings attractive as well, and at that Iphignea felt her hopes at friends dashed. Undoubtedly these two would fit in well with the popular crowd, which left her out as an option for friendship. She definitely was not one for popularity, but in fact was probably the exact opposite - at least, at school she was. When she was at work, though, she got along quite well with her patrons; then again, a majority of them were completely shitfaced.

The mention of her last name brought her back to reality and away from her thoughts, and having missed what their professor said, she glanced up only to feel shock at the sight of the new duo approaching her. Her heart quickened a bit but she forced her expression to remain placid, and when the two reached her and chose their seats, she said nothing in greeting and went out of her way not to even glance at them. Once they seemed to have found their seats, the professor immediately launched into the beginnings of her lecture - something to do with ethics. Iphignea was okay at philosophy but the subject bored her to tears, and as the teacher spoke, her voice became a blur, almost akin to the voice of the teacher in the show Charlie Brown. She stared down at the textbook, her expression bored - it was clear that she was beyond dulled by the current subject.

Despite all of this, Iphianassa found herself struggling to qualm the urge to look at the new students - or, well, in particular Natsuo. Unable to stifle the need to do so, she found herself occasionally subtly flicking a glance behind her, completely incapable of resisting the urge entirely. It was during one of these glances that she truly noticed his hair and the length of it, but despite the odd amount, it looked soft and healthy. The desire to run her fingers through those soft tresses caused her hands to twitch a bit as she wrote, muddling some of the numbers occasionally, much to her frustration. What was with her today? Acting like this over a guy?I must not have gotten enough sleep last night, she reasoned to herself, rubbing the bridge of her nose. Despite this thought, she couldn’t ignore the giggles and whispers of the girls in the class as they blatantly stared and looked over at Natsuo, a few of them tossing in some glares in Iphignea’s direction. She simply glared back, mouthing, ’The hell do you want me to do about it?’ in return to the girls. She really hated that she was getting all of this attention just because these two sat next to her. Gods, why couldn’t they have sat anywhere else?

The door to the classroom suddenly flew open and in sauntered none other than the walking, talking blueberry himself - Mafuyu Hanazawa. Iphianassa found herself unable to contain her snicker as he was quickly chastised by their professor, to which he had a rather comical reaction, and she snorted a bit in her laughter. A hand flashed up to her mouth in embarrassment and she quickly stifled her chuckles. When she saw Mafuyu begin to make his way in her direction, a devilish smirk on his face, Iphignea straightened instantly and shot a look at their professor.

”No!” she practically wailed. ”Please don’t sit this dumb blueberry next to me!” her voice begged, her overdramatics gaining a few chuckles from their classmates. ”Sit down and stop your whining, Miss Lykaois - I will not tolerate the theatrics in my classroom.” This instantly shut Iphignea up who groaned and dropped back into her seat just as Mafuyu opened his big fucking mouth.

”Heya, Phig. Wanna introduce me to these two? You were here when they were introduced you know." His friendly wave didn’t fool her for a second and she noted the lingering gaze he held on the new girl. Ohohoho she inwardly snickered. The things she would do with that little information. She couldn’t help but bite out, ”Why is it my job to introduce you? Introduce yourself; you have a working mouth, don’t you? And I’ve told you before, don’t call me Phig.” He seemingly took her ‘advice’ and began to greet the new duo. "Nice to meet you both, mhm, sorry I caused a scene on the day you arrived. I've only been late twice now, promise. Name's Mafuyu Hanazawa, nice to meet you." An eye-roll followed this hello. ”Mafu, even if I didn’t have class with you literally every single day, I would still know that what you just said was a total lie. You’ve been late, like, at least four or five times,” she outed him, rising a bit in her seat and jabbing a finger in his direction. ”Shouldn’t a talking blueberry have more drive to get a good education? How are you going to get a job anywhere without a good education looking like you just had a bad visit at Willy Wonka’s factory, Mr.Beauregarde?” she quipped, the name referencing the character from the movie who began to turn into a giant blueberry.

Dropping back into her chair with a light clatter, Iphignea crossed her knees and arms, narrowing her eyes on Mafuyu. ”If you’re really that incapable of creating a proper introduction yourself, than I guess I have no choice.” With a hand motion in the direction of the two new students, Iphignea made a rather valiant effort not to look at the two. ”This is Kazumi and Natsuo Orako - they’re siblings, so make sure you treat them kindly,” she mocked their teacher. ”Now, unlike some people,” she looked pointedly at Mafuyu, ”I would actually like to learn something today.” WIth that said, she plucked up her pencil and began to fervently take notes, attempting to block out all thoughts of the new bubblegum girl and her unnaturally hot brother as well as the annoying Mafuyu.

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Character Portrait: Kazumi Orako Character Portrait: Iphianassa Lykaois Character Portrait: Mafuyu Hanazawa Character Portrait: Natsuo Orako
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If there was one thing Kazumi was dreading it was sitting inside of a classroom with nothing to do but listen to the professor. And right now, she was so bored she was starting to fidget. She never saw the point of a classroom setting either. Why stay inside when one could be outside? At least when the weather was nice. And it definitely was. She found herself looking out the window and sighing. However, her thoughts were interrupted when someone burst through the door.

The noise also got Natsuo's attention too. He too was bored, but unlike his sister, he still focused on the class and found great humor in what the professor was teaching. Did humans really think like this at one point? Wow were they ignorant of how things actually worked. However, his attention was also on the dark hair girl who he could see kept looking at him and his sister, even though she tried to hide it. Oh, Natsuo was very much aware of the attention he and his siblings had on the opposite gender. It was amusing to say the least and Natsuo relish in the attention. He knew his younger siblings didn't like it, but he and Kazumi enjoyed it. Kazumi herself loved leaving guys begging for mercy. He always felt sorry for them boys. The only males that Kazumi didn't turn men's minds into jelly were their father, Pavo, and Kazumi's new boss.

Speaking of males, one blue haired one came into the class suddenly. Kazumi watched his interaction with the professor. She was curious about these family issues, but it seemed he had issues with being on time. Even though Kazumi and Natsuo were a bit late themselves, normally Kazumi was a stickler for time. It was one reason why she and her siblings waiting until AFTER Spring and Fall started to come to Earth because she and Vel had to perform their duties in changing the Seasons for the North and Southern hemispheres. And in the back of her mind, that they might have to leave before Summer and Winter arrived again. Knowing Natsuo, he would want ALL of them to leave, but if Vel wanted to stay longer, she would at least try to convince Natsuo to let her and Vel stay at least. That's if their parents hadn't found them beforehand. Both she and Natsuo did talk privately, and both had a feeling that Astraea and Pavo were searching for them, knowing their parents would have sent them to find them. But they would cross that bridge when it happened.

As for the new guy, Kazumi found herself giggling between the outburst of the brunette, Iphianassa, and the professor. Soon, the guy introduced himself as Mafuyu Hanazawa. Iphianassa's words to him reminded Kazumi of the times she and Natsuo got into it. She looked at her brother and he merely roled his eyes at her with a look that said I am nothing like that. After the brunette introduced the two of them, she went back to taking notes. Kazumi turned back to Mafuyu and smiled. She would wait to see what kind of effect she would have on him.

"Pleasure to meet you Mr. Hanazawa."

Natsuo merely acknowledge him as he too continued to refocus on the class. For Kazumi, class seemed to drag on when finally it ended. As soon as it did end though, many of their classmates clamored around the two older Seasons asking questions at once. Natsuo merely ignored such trial questions and let Kazumi be the spokesperson. It was a how they both worked and perfected it over the years.

"Ms. Orako, where are you and your brother from?" "What made you decide to come here?" "Do you have any other relatives?" "Can I escort you to your next class?"

These were the kind of questions given to them and Kazumi answered all of them, but did know when to hold back. She valued her privacy too and enjoyed keeping others guessing. Finally, Kazumi called a halt to the questions as she and Natsuo had to get to their next class, which was a Language Arts class. While there was more time in between classes, Kazumi wanted to check on her two dogs, Eos and Dawn, who were positioned outside the school grounds. Both dogs had wanted to stay by Kazumi's side but the school wouldn't allow Kazumi to take them on the grounds, even though Kazumi tried. So Kazumi promised the two dogs she would check on them between classes. After the pair left the classroom, Kazumi turned to her brother.

"Natsuo, I am going to be checking on Eos and Dawn. You can head to our next class if you want."

"Na, I want to get outside just as much as you."

Nodding, it only took them a couple minutes to get to the main gate of the campus, where Dawn, a Shiba Inu, and Eos, an Akita, were waiting. Seeing their master, the two dogs instantly went to her side, sniffing her before moving to Natsuo to do the same thing. Glad to see they were okay, Kazumi talked to them a bit before they had to leave since their class was on the other side of the campus and was pretty close to the High School campus. This time they made it to the class within plenty of time with time to spare to talk if need be.

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Character Portrait: Kazumi Orako Character Portrait: Iphianassa Lykaois Character Portrait: Mafuyu Hanazawa Character Portrait: Natsuo Orako
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mafuyu hanazawa.
dialogue ; #7f9f91. – thought ; #bb7e8c.
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The complaints from Iphignea certainly don't reach deaf ears as he approaches, but that isn't to say they'd drive him away. If anything, they just made the enjoyment of reaching that free seat so much better, watching her shoot her usual irritated glare in his direction as he settled into his seat, skateboard clattered on the floor without much of a care. Lessons begin and his introductions are out, but the girl he considered a friend - well, she probably didn't look to him as one, but they talked and bickered enough to practically be considered siblings at this point. If she knew I thought this, my life would be over by her own hands. He stifles a snort of laughter, before leaning back in his seat, grin brightening slightly at her words. "Why is it my job to introduce you? Introduce yourself; you have a working mouth, don’t you? And I’ve told you before, don’t call me Phig."

"Aw, but I like Phig! It's cute!" He replies quite quickly, moving a hand to lightly pat against her head like some kind of kid or underclassman, a kouhai, except they were the same age, only a month's difference between them. Still, it's a teasing move that he was sure would probably blow her temper off in about five seconds, and he pulls his hand back to his chest before she can think to grab it. "I'm the blueberry, you're Phig, doesn't it sound nice? Like some weird crime duo, or stage names." That was kind of dipping into stripper territory, though even if he was one he wouldn't choose blueberry for his. Still, that nickname had become a source of glee for him anyway; the girl constantly used it against him, how could he not get used to it at this point? Maybe even enjoy it a little out of some odd form of amusement. I like my blue hair, not gonna change it up for anyone.

Without her help for introductions, however, he moves along to give his own, comfortably leaning in their directions again with a pleasant smile. Usually he's able to hit it off quite easily with people, dare he say he was considered to be someone within the popular ring, had been for several years. That wasn't to say everyone took a liking to him from the get-go either though. He'd feel offed by that if it were the case, people were human, they had preferences, and sometimes Mafuyu just didn't fit within their realm of likes. Still, he always did his best to make a friend out of anyone he met, and these two wouldn't be an exception, especially not with them sitting right next to him in this class from here on out. Comfort was key when you would probably have to work together with desk neighbors, so at the very least he hoped these two would tolerate him in the long run.

"Mafu, even if I didn’t have class with you literally every single day, I would still know that what you just said was a total lie. You’ve been late, like, at least four or five times." Iphianassa's response comes, and he stifles another laugh, feigns some sort of hurt expression, "Iphi! How could you betray me like that! There goes my good first impression..." A defeated expression crosses his face as he slouches in his seat, "to think my best friend doesn't even have my back, I'm so hurt..." Hand over his heart like he'd been shot, he doesn't have time to continue the act before she's quickly forcing out her own for him, probably to avoid anymore of his shit for the rest of the hour. Her hand moves out as she does give the introductions to each of them in turn, "this is Kazumi and Natsuo Orako - they’re siblings, so make sure you treat them kindly."

"Oh! You finally gave in, thanks Phig." He smiles again, a little more happily this time before looking over to the two newcomers once more. "Happy to meet you both, I hope we can become friends! This class sucks, but let's still do our best, okay?"

"Pleasure to meet you Mr. Hanazawa." Comes Kazumi's words, and he brightens a little at getting a response from at least one of them. "Sure, yeah! You too, Kazumi."

Again, words are cut short by Iphianassa, and he pouts a little as she speaks, irritable and matter-of-fact as she returns to the notebook and pencil at her own section of the table. "Now, unlike some people, I would actually like to learn something today." It gets him to lean forward a bit at that, hands fallen over the front of his table as he lays his head lopsided on the desk. "It's not that I don't want to learn, Phig, it's just that philosophy sucks. Besides, I'm just planning on teaching high school; if I have to teach teenagers this stuff, they'll probably want to die just as much as I do right now." Still, she was right; he had to pass this class, and with the way his relationship with their professor was going after being late a considerable amount, he didn't think she'd be willing to give him extra credit, or anything of the sort if he didn't do so hot on an exam or homework.

Not that he could risk losing his 4.0 anyway. It had been carefully maintained for the past two years, and he wasn't on the road to start failing now. Now even with the looming shadow of his father trying to make a comeback in his life now. Talk about bad timing...I'm already stressed enough as it is. Two jobs and full-time college certainly didn't make him keen on trying to balance anything else on his way too full platter, besides positives, like new friends, which he would be working on in this class from hereon out.

So silence falls again, and the lecture fills his ears with the overthinking, the redundant concepts and people trying to act like rocket science should be applied to lifestyle and the Japanese language. Seriously, if he met these philosophers, he'd ask them why...how the hell they had so much free time to keep coming up with these concepts, and if he could steal some of it from them.

When class is over and they're dismissed, Mafuyu isn't surprised to see the gathering crowd around the area, classmates curious and interested in the new students that, dare he say, probably looked like they could hit up any modeling company around here and get a job on the spot. Natsuo was attractive, Kazumi was attractive, he'd date them both really, but he didn't even know them well enough to try pursuing that now, and something told him neither were the type to get drunk at a bar with him and just share a bed for the night. Besides, he was looking for a deeper relationship with someone now; an actual partner, and something told him extending his history of what could be considered one night stands (even though he was friends with most of the people he'd done so with) wouldn't help out in that area. Well, maybe it wouldn't affect it if he found someone who didn't care for his past as it was already, but he didn't feel like chancing it. Take dating seriously for the rest of the year challenge, or something.

Still, he'd seen Iphignea's gaze on the boy a couple times now, so by all means he'd keep himself from trying with him. He might not even swing Mafuyu's way anyway, so no reason to make things awkward from the get go with an instant rejection. His eyes were more on the girl at this point by all means. He wasn't shallow or anything, but that didn't mean he didn't see beauty when it was right in front of his face. She had soft features, cute, and an almost regal, put together sort of vibe; it'd be fun to get to know her, and maybe try out a date with her in the future, if she accepted his request by then anyway. He still had no idea what either of them thought of him, and given the way they had slipped out of the classroom without so much of a goodbye to either him or Iphianassa, it would be some time before he could comfortably ask her out.

Mafuyu's smile returns as quiet begins to fill the space, though, even as he's packing up his bags for his next class. "Well, what'd you think of those two, Iphi?" He spares the nickname she hates for a moment, if only because he genuinely wants to hear her thoughts, not get snapped at again and left alone in the classroom. "They're pretty cute, don't you think?"

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Characters Present

Character Portrait: Kazumi Orako Character Portrait: Iphianassa Lykaois Character Portrait: Mafuyu Hanazawa Character Portrait: Natsuo Orako
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”Stop judging others based on what you see,
Because what you see, is what they want you to see.”

Speech Code ~ #8A0808
| Thought Code ~ #045FB4




”It's not that I don't want to learn, Phig, it's just that philosophy sucks. Besides, I'm just planning on teaching high school; if I have to teach teenagers this stuff, they'll probably want to die just as much as I do right now."

An eye roll was all that this whining excuse received. Iphignea tossed him an annoyed look, a small scowl on her face. In a hushed voice, as the teacher resumed her speaking, she stuck a finger in his direction. ”Oh, grow up, Mafu-Tofu; adults have to deal with shit they don’t enjoy. That’s just the way things are, get used to it.” With that, she turned back to her notes, determined to ignore Mafuyu and anyone else near her - but particularly that damn blueberry.

Class continued without any further intrusions, the events seeming to have finally ended, between the two new students and Mafuyu’s grand entrance it had been pretty hectic. As their lecture came to an end, it seemed that their fellow classmates wasted no time in rushing in on the new students, much to Iphianassa’s dismay. As their annoying peers - even more annoying than Mafu and that was really saying something - crowded near her desk, she found herself attempting to move away from the group as much as possible, all the while shoving her books and supplies as quickly as possible into her backpack. Like hell she was going to stick around this crowd; it was way too much stimulation for her.

With that thought in mind, she attempted to get to her feet but found her way blocked by the group of students surrounding the new ones. Her irritation surged - Stupid assholes, some of us have classes to attend. After a few minutes the crowd finally began to disperse but before she could make her own exit, Kazumi and Natsuo were slipping past not only herself but Mafuyu as well without so much as a farewell. Rude much? Beauty is only skin deep. From the way they were dressed, they undoubtedly came from money, so of course they wouldn’t even bat an eyelash in pitiful, poor Iphianassa’s direction, or pitiful, poor Mafuyu’s either. Her seemingly permanent scowl fixed on her lips, but she attempted to wipe it away and relax her features. Early onset wrinkles were not her goal.

"Well, what'd you think of those two, Iphi? They're pretty cute, don't you think?" Unbidden heat instantly assaulted her face and Iphignea found herself pressing her hands to her cheeks, staring at Mafuyu with wide eyes. Then she was suddenly on her feet, her hand pointed in his direction. I-I don’t - I mean, that is - How would I know something like that!” She stumbled over her words as she rushed them out, clearly frazzled by the question. Who the hell just asks something like that anyway! As if I could ever find someone so stuck up and rude attractive! Even as she thought this, however, she couldn’t help but recall the siblings’ beautiful appearances - from Kazumi’s gentle features to Natsuo’s sharply delicate ones; from her soft cotton candy hair to his long, raven-like locks, they were the picture-perfect sibling duo who could easily pursue modeling as a full-time career. The urge to play with Natsuo’s hair had been strong and she felt her fingers twitch at the memory of it. Knock it off!

Her scowl back, Iphignea tossed a glare in Mafuyu’s direction. ”Don’t pretend to know what you’re talking about, Blueberry Man!” and with that exclamation she practically ran from the room, her only intent to get as far away from Mafu and those infernal new students as possible.

Thankfully, she had Language Arts next, one of the few classes that she actually enjoyed outside of those involving anything physical. She went straight for the class, preferring to be early as opposed to on time or possibly late, and when she arrived she slipped through the door quietly. With a heft she pulled her backpack to the front of her body and unzipped it, rifling through until she found a hair tie. Mission accomplished she zipped the bag back up and was in the process of moving it onto her back once more, her main focus to find a seat near the back of the class and ready herself for the next lecture, but before she could even attempt to do that she found herself ramming into a solid piece of - flesh?

So in tune with her thoughts was she that when the collision happened Iphignea was nearly knocked back onto her butt. Unable to grasp anything else, she found her hands shooting up to grip the arms of the person that she had ran into, both in an effort to stabalize herself but also to avoid her poor victim falling as well. Damn, that shit would’ve hurt like hell too.

Once firmly planted on the ground again, Iphi turned her attention to the person she had run into, an apology already leaving her lips. ”I’m so sorry, I wasn’t wa-” Halfway through the words, she cut off and froze, her blood running cold. No freaking way. ”H-Haruto!?” she exclaimed, stumbling back two steps from the man, who was already turning to face her, his ever-present smirk appearing on his lips. ”Well, well, if it isn’t my little Phig. I’ve missed you babe - I almost wasn’t able to switch any of my classes, but at the last minute they had an opening, so here I am!” Haruto threw out his arms, a dark smile on his lips. Before she could react he had closed the distance between them, his hand lifting to press lightly against her cheek. She wanted to recoil in disgust but found herself rooted in place, her eyes wide and a scowling grimace etched across her lips. Haruto ran a thumb over her bottom lip, chuckling a bit. ”Don’t be like that babe. I know things got weird for a while, but I’ve changed! And I know you can’t wait to take me back.” His expression caused a chill to run up her spine and with that she was shocked back into her body. A hand shot up out of reflex and smacked his wrist, knocking his arm away and removing his disgusting touch from her body. In the same movement she stepped back, not just one or two steps, but six just to increase the distance between them.

”You stay the hell away from me, you disgusting creep, or I’ll kick your freaking ass into next week,” she practically growled, her hands gripping her backpack straps so hard that her knuckles whitened. ”I’m not stupid, Haru - I know you cheated on me with Yumiko, and I don’t plan to take you back,” she snapped, her eyes fiery and her expression stormy. ”And I know you’re the one who’s been leaving stuff at my temple and following me home from work, so do me a huge favor and fuck off!” Seeming to have gotten in out of her system, she literally shoved her way past a stunned Haruto, who stood there gaping in complete surprise, his small group of friends staring wide-eyed at her as she walked, but she didn’t care. The guy was a total stalker and if she didn’t put him in his place now he would only grow bolder and possibly try something later on. Better to nip it in the bud while I still can without violence.

Feet stopping in their tracks, Iphi found herself a mere couple of feet from two of the only people she really didn’t want to see in this class with her - Natsuo and Kazumi. It wasn’t that she didn’t like them, per say, but something about them just didn’t sit right with her. Add in their mesmerizing beauty and she wouldn’t be able to concentrate in class all semester. Freaking fantastic! Not only do I have my own personal stalker here with me, but also Mr.- and Ms. Popularity as well! Yippee for me! Her thoughts were bitterly sarcastic, especially considering that the new duo had just witnessed a messy interaction between herself and her ex - not her finest moment, but what the hell, he was being a creep. Embarrassment tinting her cheeks pink, she found a desk at the back of the room, unfortunately this time behind the new sibling duo. Without so much as a hello, she dropped her bag on the floor with seemingly little care, dropped into her seat, and went about removing her textbook and supplies.

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Character Portrait: Kazumi Orako Character Portrait: Iphianassa Lykaois Character Portrait: Natsuo Orako
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[b]Kazumi was interacting with a couple of the classmates in her class while Natsuo was skimming the textbook they had. One would never know it looking at him, but he was an avid reader and his parents had indulged him in finding rare texts. Skimming through the book, Natsuo was slightly disappointed in the material for it just 'basic stuff'. And just like with Philosophy, he knew this was going to be another "easy A" for him. He knew Kazumi would do well in this case because she loved the arts more than the sciences. Well, not the culinary arts unless you asked her to do a salad or anything non-cooked. It was another reason why they settled on Japan was because it would have more 'natural food' for Kazumi to 'eat'. Oh none of the Seasons needed food, but they still enjoyed the 'fruits of their labors' and food fell into that category. Looking up from his book, he soon saw that one dark hair girl appear through the door. Her mentally corrected himself, he name was Iphianassa Lykaois. He saw her see both him and Kazumi and didn't seem too happy about seeing them. He raised an eyebrow at her, wondering what either of them could have done to upset her. His curiosity was peaked, especially when she still sat near them, only behind him this time. However, a voice called out to him.

"Natsuo? I heard you were in this school, but I didn't quite believe it," said a young man with short brown hair.

Natsuo turned to see it was one of his new coworkers, Daisuke Maeda. Natsuo had gotten himself a part-time job at a local stir fry place. Daisuke worked there also.

"Yes, this my first day here, Daisuke. How are you?"

"Oh I am fine. I just thought I say hi before class starts."

It was at this moment Kazumi showed up, having seen Iphianassa and Daisuke.

"Natsuo, who is this cute young man?"

Daisuke, seeing Kazumi for the first time, blushed from head to toe. Having been raised by his grandparents, he didn't have much interaction with those close to his age, especially girls and this one was probably the prettiest one he'd seen yet.

Seeing that his sister had effectively made another guy melt again, sighed and said, "Really, Kazumi, do you always have to have your charm level turned up to extremes? Daisuke, this is my older sister, Kazumi. Kazumi, this is Daisuke Maeda, he works at Kamikaze Stir Fry with me, but he cooks in the back."

"Oh Natsuo, I can't help it. I got it from our father after all. Mom says I am natural! And it's nice to meet you Mr. Maeda!"

"Aw. . . . . nice . . . to meet . . . . you too. I'll . . . . let you be," the poor guy stammered before going to his desk.

Both Seasons felt bad for the poor boy, but this was a common thing and they were use to it by now. Kazumi turned to Iphianassa.

"Hey, nice to see you again Ms. Lykaois. Your name is so pretty by the way! Are you from Greece originally?" she asked.

She had seen the looks the girl had given her and her brother and was highly curious about her now, wanting to see what was up. Kazumi might come off as an airhead; however, she was anything but. It was just one of her personality quirks she develop to hide her secrets.

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Character Portrait: Kazumi Orako Character Portrait: Iphianassa Lykaois Character Portrait: Mafuyu Hanazawa Character Portrait: Natsuo Orako
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mafuyu hanazawa.
dialogue ; #7f9f91. – thought ; #bb7e8c.
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There's something about Iphianassa's reactions, the way he knows how to push her buttons just right to get them that fills his heart with a mischievous sense of joy. He knew better than to push her too far, but what he was asking about wasn't harmful anyway; if anything it just made it all the more obvious that he had taken an interest to them himself too. But instead, the brunette in front of him is a stammering mess, a finger pointed at him in an almost accusatory manner as he raises his own hands in surrender, even if the amused smile over his lips says anything but "I give up."

"I-I don’t - I mean, that is - How would I know something like that!" Comes words that might scare of most, but Mafuyu had long grown used to the girl's behavior, and frankly he was difficult to intimidate anyway. Priceless, seriously, how is she going to live this down, just offering up teasing material like that for free? He gives a faint snicker as she shoots that same familiar glare at him too, a hissed, "Don’t pretend to know what you’re talking about, Blueberry Man!" This wins him even more laughter, though, and he lets his head fall back as she makes her way out, "who says I don't know what I'm talking about! We both know I do!" Is all he calls after to her as she storms out of the classroom. Frankly, he had been in his fair share of relationships at this point, thank you. Not that Iphianassa hadn't herself, but her last one had ended less than ideal, and he wasn't about to be an ass about that. Knew that guy was bad news. Not that he was able to help much beyond trying to offer a shoulder to cry on. Had he wanted to go kick the guy's shit in? Absolutely. Though honestly, Iphignea probably beat him to it, and something tells him that the payoff would be better done by her hand anyway.

His teasing, if you could even call it that at the start though definitely by the end, lost him someone to walk with to the next class, and perhaps he deserved that. Oh well, he'd certainly survive through the quiet, that's how most his mornings were spent anyway, and the ride home.

Swiping up his skateboard from the floor and his backpack soon after, he makes his way for the doorway that the transfer students and Iphianassa went through, dodging past several lingering classmates that probably don't have a class right after this like some of them. Try not to block the door, would you? It hardly delays him in the end though, as he makes his way over and almost catches a glimpse of Iphianassa too far ahead to catch up and disappearing into the building for their second class of the day. Language arts, right after philosophy. At least it wasn't as painful, and technically he did have to pay attention in here; English was one of the subjects he'd be teaching once he landed himself a position in a high school after his graduation, and not learning the material well enough to teach it would just be shooting himself in the foot. Miyako asked me to tutor Mamoru for English this weekend anyway, so it'd be better refresh on it quick now. He was due to tutor that Kenji kid this weekend too, even if the boy was a spoilt brat (he'd come to learn that himself, and heard more than enough from his sister about the boy's antics at the high school). His parents paid him decently though, so who was he to turn down the job?

Thoughts of graduation requirements and tutoring jobs on the weekend are out of his mind in an instant when he enters the building for his language arts course, nears the door and all he can hear is the sound of Iphianassa's near yelling, that bitter angry sound showing what he would consider genuine anger from the girl that he didn't want turned on himself. She wasn't that mad about my teasing, was she? She would have actually taken it out on him if she were this mad though, and as he peeks his head around the doorway, he sees the source of those emotions clear as day.

Ah, Haruto. Cheating asshole of the century, emotionally manipulative and abusive next. Did he actually think he could win her back over? Why do people like him think they can just waltz back into people's lives after the damage they do? Astounding, really. It didn't seem he'd have to step in though; that final "fuck off" was enough to put the seal over his mouth for the time being. He nearly snorts out a laugh at the guy's face, like he thought his stupid plan would work so well, like it was so fool-proof. The narcissism is out of this world, man. Go hang out with my dad, you guys would probably click to best friends from day one.

Walking into the classroom with most eyes on Haruto and his obnoxious little gang after that scene, he doesn't have to worry to much as he half skips past in something of a mocking manner, head tilting towards the other classmate as he passes him, a, "humiliated yourself enough yet?" muttered in his direction, taking off before the male can retort or say anything back to him that wouldn't probably embarrass him further. Mafuyu knew he was higher on the social food chain than that guy, but he didn't particularly care anyway; Haruto deserved all the shit he got; he brought it on himself half the time after all.

Glance around the classroom again and there's full view of the desks, and gleefully he spots Iphi right where she always was, fully prepped to take notes and listen to the lecture, but alas, her favorite blueberry is here to ruin her plans.

I won't actually distract her that much this class though, our professor is okay for this one at least, and I need to teach it eventually.

"Iphiiii~!" A mix of whine and playful, he quickly made his way over to her again, look of betrayal crawling over his expression, "what'd you leave me behind like that for? We could've walked together! Did I make you that mad?" He cuts into a free seat close by, nearly sitting on top of the desk to chat, but he knows better than that by now; the professors would probably call him out for damaging property if they caught him doing so. But even with that teasing tone and the probably growing dread that he added to with his second time sitting near her, he tilted his head slightly, "you alright, by the way? Is he still not leaving you alone?"

A slight pause then, he glances around the classroom again before spotted the transfers once more, that same feeling hitting his chest again at the sight of them both. They were in front of where he and Iphianassa were this time, though whether that was good or bad he’d have to figure out; staring at the back of their heads with no distractions besides english lectures probably wouldn’t help make this go anymore smoothly. A slight head tilt all the same though, and he offers a brighter smile and wave. "Hi again Kazumi, Natsuo. Guess we share more than philosophy, huh?”

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Character Portrait: Kazumi Orako Character Portrait: Iphianassa Lykaois Character Portrait: Mafuyu Hanazawa Character Portrait: Natsuo Orako
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”Talent can’t be taught;
But it can be awakened.”
~Wallace Stegner

Speech Code ~ #8A0808
| Thought Code ~ #045FB4




As she rifled through her belongings and began to get her books in order, Iphianassa heard a voice pipe up, calling her name in a pitiful yet coy howl. When she looked up and located the owner of the sound, she couldn’t contain the eye roll that followed. Greeeeat, just what I needed. What an eventful semester this is looking to be. It was an internal groan, revealing her emotions through the annoyed expression on her face. "What'd you leave me behind like that for? We could've walked together! Did I make you that mad?"

”In order for me to be mad, I would need to care about what you have to say, but since most of the stuff that comes out of your mouth is either sarcasm or a flirtation, it’s hard to take you seriously,” she scoffed, really going for the jugular today it seemed. It wasn’t her fault; the universe seemed to really be trying her patience and to be honest was lucky that she hadn’t set fire to the school yet.

”You alright, by the way? Is he still not leaving you alone?" The question gave Iphignea pause; she internally debated whether or not to lose her absolute shit over Mafuyu’s words. The boy was bold, she’d give him that, but he seemed to have no boundaries for others' personal lives - something that was bound to get him into trouble at some point. She couldn’t really pinpoint it, but he seemed to be lacking something - streetsmarts, perhaps? Despite the anger that threatened to boil over the nosiness of Mafu, she paused. Her doctor had been pushing her to try and make more friends. The least I can do is give it a shot. Plus, when she really studied him, he appeared to be genuine in his concern over her ex’s actions. You lose every shot you don’t take, and all that. Slowing a bit in her movements as she finished withdrawing her supplies from her bag, she sighed. With a soft thwup sound, her books hit her desk and she lowered herself into the seat, her physical demeanor betraying how tired she felt. She hadn’t been sleeping well - not that she ever had - but lately it had been getting worse, due to a combination of things, at the top of that list being the one and only Haruto. Rubbing her face a bit as though to try and bring herself back to her normal state, she stifled another sigh.

”It hasn’t been 
 Good, you could say. After what happened with Yumiko and him and I broke it off between us, I figured everything would just go back to how it was before we ever dated. But 
” she paused and was unable to stop the next sigh that escaped her. ”Now, it seems like it won’t be that easy. It’s been over half a year and he still calls and texts me at least once a day. I figured that since we’re in different majors, I would be able to avoid him in class, but obviously that’s not the case. And 
” This time it was a hesitation and her expression was weary as she continued, ”And someone has been leaving gifts for me at my temple every week. If it was just that I could ignore it, but 
” Wringing her hands together, she stared down at her fingers, ”But after work every night this week, when I’ve been walking home alone, I swear that someone’s been following me. I’m not the type to just imagine that kind of thing. I may be paranoid and may have my own issues, but I swear I’m not just imagining it, and I can guarantee that I know who it is.” Clenching her hands into fists, she couldn’t help but feel her skin crawl a bit. An unfortunate side effect of her somewhat above-average senses was her uncanny ability to be able to tell when someone was watching her, and to be honest, even without her enhanced sensory, it would be nearly impossible to miss the beady brown eyes that belonged to her slimy ex. Unable to control herself, her lips turned into a scowl; it was a consistent expression that she made, or similar ones, when at school in particular, but she found her muscles were a bit tighter due to her increased emotions. Without being able to contain it, she snapped her head to the side and shot Haruto a glare full of absolute hatred and fury. Unfortunately for her, he had chosen a seat as close to hers as possible, which left only two students separating them. In response he simply smiled at her, in what she assumed he figured to be a charming way, but instead it had the opposite effect, leaving her disgusted and annoyed.

Before she could stop herself, her tattooed hand had lifted and she let out a fake sneeze, moving her head forward as she did so. When she pulled her head back, her hand held one dainty, long finger pointing towards the ceiling, and her scowl had twisted into a look of mock surprise. As she flipped him the bird and revelled in his shocked face, she quite sweetly slipped out, ”Didn’t I just get done telling you to go fuck yourself? Because obviously you didn’t hear me, seeing as you’re still staring at me with your beady little reptile eyes.” As he was satisfyingly struck dumb, his jaw hanging slack, Iphignea ignored the surprised stares of the few classmates that were near them. She wasn’t one for many words and given the small status of their town had spent the last decade with a majority of these people, so most of them knew better than to try and approach her. She had made her feelings about her peers clear; stay away from her, she’d stay away from them, and they’d have no problems, capiche? People are so freaking annoying. When will they learn?

An eye roll and Iphi turned back to her desk, only at that moment to have her new bubblegum classmate appear. As she watched the other woman flaunt her features to none other than Daisuke, she couldn’t contain the second eye roll that revealed itself. Daisuke was a confirmed socially awkward straight-edge who followed the rules to a T, leaving Iphi about as far as could possibly be from his friend group and activities. She knew him, but barely, and wanted to keep it that way. Seriously, what a dork. It would be a lie to say that Daisuke was a complete joke, though; the siblings were definitely something to look at, and matched with their odd charm they seemed to carry gave them a deadly draw. Kazumi’s sweet voice, tinged with hues of pink and yellow, and Natsuo’s gentle baritone that held soft blues and purples - they were enticing, to say the least.

"Hey, nice to see you again Ms. Lykaois. Your name is so pretty by the way! Are you from Greece originally?"

The sudden address of her name jerked Iphignea from her thoughts. As though confused or unsure despite her name being used, she actually turned in her desk to look behind her, as though searching for who Kazumi was speaking to. When she turned back to face the trio that were near her, she pointed at herself, seemingly baffled. People don’t just go out of their way to talk to me. Seriously - who is this chick? And she recognizes Grecian names? ”Um, me?” After a beat of awkward silence - Obviously she meant you, you freaking idiot - Iphignea found herself scowling again, but this time at her own stupidity. She wasn’t dumb, but had definitely just made herself seem to be.

Dragging her palm across her forehead as though she were having head pains, she sighed and seemed to relent, but to what, who knew? ”Of course, you mean me - not like there’s any other Lykaois’ here,” she muttered, seemingly to herself. When she glanced back up at Kazumi, her features were a bit more docile, at least half of her consistent hostility gone. Given her personality, however, she found herself crossing her arms defensively over her chest. Her sudden state left her feeling vulnerable in more ways than she could count, so to counteract it she found herself positioning her body protectively, legs and arms crossed, as though to guard her inner self - the child who was simply afraid of growing close to others. ”Yeah, I’m from Greece. I’m 
 Surprised you could tell. Most people don’t recognize Grecian names, and I’ve gotten to be really good at hiding my accent. I’m 
 Impressed.”

Fingers tightening their grips on her upper arms, Iphignea frowned, uncertain on how to proceed. Her therapist had encouraged her so often over the years to step out of her comfort zone and try to make friends, but it was just so freaking difficult. What if they found out about her past and decided they wanted nothing to do with her, after she had let them in? What if they developed the same asinine belief that her eyes could see things that others couldn’t? What if they found out about her indifference to gender, instead preferring what was within an individual when attempting to find love? What if, what if, what if - it all just cycled endlessly within her mind, almost as though entrapping her within the confines of a prison cell. When these thoughts assaulted her, she felt like little more than the scared, small child that her birth parents had done their best to create. Her back ached at the memories, stinging in resistance to what her mind was recalling.

Of course, these were all things that had been discussed in length with her various doctors, none of whom she had found herself able to connect or bond with. Instead, they had simply been there to make an easy buck off of the fucked up adopted foreign kid and really just couldn’t care less about what actually happened to her. At least now, with her current psychiatrist, she felt somewhat of a kinship. The woman had been through similar - albeit different - circumstances to Iphignea, and she couldn’t help but feel a bit of a connection through the woman’s empathy.

When she glanced up again, pulling herself from her reverie - she had a tendency to just clock out and into her own little world - she found her azure gaze snagged by intense eyes that looked to hold an entire summer storm within them. The depth of them stopped her breath in its place, and despite the thundering of her heart telling her to breathe, she was unable to focus on anything other than those eyes. An odd whooshing sound dulled all other noises around her, and for a moment, all that existed was this man’s fierce stare.

”Alright, class - take your seats and we’ll begin momentarily.” The sudden words somehow managed to wrench Iphianassa from her trance. She blinked rapidly, quickly coming back to the current moment, and was unable to contain the intensely red hue that instantly assaulted her face. What the hell is wrong with me, just staring at random people like that? He probably thinks I’m a freak - way to go, Iphi! If you were possibly going to make friends before, there goes your chance. They both probably think you’re some sort of freaking psycho. Groaning internally at the thought, she dropped her forehead onto her desk with a soft thud. She really couldn’t do anything right in her life, could she? And now she had to tell her psychiatrist what an utter loser she was; what a joke.

Language Arts proceeded without any intrusions or anything really eventful to note, and as their instructor gave the departing words, Iphignea began to gather her books, ignoring the hair standing on end on her arms. She knew without looking that it was Haruto staring again that was causing this to happen, and with a clenched jaw, she shoved her things into her bag with an unnecessary amount of aggression. Freaking chill Iphi; what'd the books ever do to you? A deep inhale followed by a slow exhale and she had calmed herself enough to pull her bag over her head. She could see Haruto attempting to make his way through the departing students to her side, but before he could reach her, she spun to the nearest person to her and grabbed their arm, rather loudly exclaiming, ”Wow, thanks for inviting me to lunch! I absolutely can't wait to share our lunch hour together! Lead the way!" without even bothering to look at the person in question.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Kazumi Orako Character Portrait: Astraea Mantrenul Character Portrait: Iphianassa Lykaois Character Portrait: Mafuyu Hanazawa Character Portrait: Natsuo Orako Character Portrait: Pavo Etoile
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Code- #790D49


Pavo was deeply asleep but had learn to wake in an instant. Even though he wasn't human anymore, he still retained some of his human habits, and the ability to wake up instantly was one of them. It was something he picked out during WWII when he joined the rebellion. You always had to watch your back for you never know when you had to move, so sleep became a precious commodity. Another trait he still carried though, was the fact that he was a crabby person when woken up suddenly, like right now.
He didn't even fully pick up what Astraea said, only that he heard his name. Someone was certainly excited. Groaning, Pavo got up slowly. He was so out of it that he didn't even bother to put on a shirt or brush his hair. So when opened the door, he was still only in his boxers, which had red hearts and silver stars all over it. He scowled when the lights hit his eyes too.

Looking at Astraea though, he saw her demeanor change from excited to demure as she noticed his own physical state. It wouldn't be the first time he got such a reaction out of a woman. After all when he had time, he did indulge in the human women of this planet, but those were quick 'one-night stands'. In the USA, the women there practically melted the moment he opened his mouth and his French accent hooked them in. When Astraea's eyes finally rested on his face and not his torso, he managed to smile. Her reaction certainly put him in a better mood instantly. All too soon though, she hid her face behind her notepad and told him she managed to narrow down their search.

Looks like she took his suggestion to heart, which pleased Pavo. He was glad they were making headway too. The question now to be where to go from there. However before saying what he was thinking, he said something else.

"It's no problem, Astraea. I don't blame you for getting excited. And um, technically it is tomorrow, so if you want to keep on talking about it, by all means go for it. By the way, would you like for me to put on a shirt?" he asked smiling mischievously.





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Code- #FF1493

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Code- #0000CD


Before Iphianassa could answer Kazumi's question, the other guy from their previous class showed up and addressed the dark hair student. Kazumi liked the nickname he gave her, it was cute. Looking at the blue hair guy, what was his name again?, oh, Mafuyu Hanazawa, she very much liked his interaction with Iphianassa. Their interplay reminded her of her relationship with Natsuo. Soon Mafuyu addressed her and Natsuo. Smiling, Kazumi answered him.

"It's nice to see you too! I'll be honest, I am looking forward to this class more then I was the last one."

Soon the subject seemed to get serious when Iphi started talking about an ex-boyfriend of hers. Kazumi wondered if Natsuo was listening. She looked at her brother, and while it seemed like he wasn't paying attention, she saw how his eyes had darken to the point of looking black. Oh dear, that was never a good sign. Natsuo might not show it, but he had a high sense of honor and anyone without was a pest at best in his eyes. And hurting women was one of his biggest pet peeves and a quick way to ignite his anger. It sounded like Iphi had a stalker on her hands and that was even worse. Kazumi could feel her own inner rage growing, but took a deep breath and decided to try and calm down Natsuo.

Without saying a word, Kazumi got out of her seat, and placed a hand on his cheek. His eyes opened wide and he looked at his older sister and saw her sad smile. He then realized just how close he was to losing it. Last thing he needed to do was blow their cover and the last time he lost control of himself, it has caused the Dust Bowl that devastated the USA during the 1930s. He felt such shame for that and it was one of his biggest regrets. Immediately he pinpointed was almost set him off, it was learning that Ms. Lykaois had an ex that just would not leave her alone. Taking a deep breath himself, he patted his sister's hand to let her know he was back in control. Nodding, Kazumi returned to her seat. Both looked at Iphi's ex after seeing her look at him. Both already knew they were going to keep an extra eye on him now. When Iphi told the guy off, Kazumi actually laughed, which earned her a few looks from her fellow classmates. Natsuo grinned himself. The girl certainly had spunk. He admired those who stood up for themselves so his opinion of her improved a bit.

Finally Iphi answered Kazumi's question. The girl was clearly flustered by the compliments, and it did amuse Kazumi and Natsuo because one minute she had a strong backbone and the next she acted like a bashful teenager.

"It's obvious your last name isn't Japanese, and I just love learning about the world. Hey can I call you Iphi too?
You have such a pretty name that I worry I would butcher it."


However the girl didn't have time to answer since class started up. Kazumi was relieved that this class was more interesting then the last one. Still there were times she almost found herself falling asleep. Still it was better to be bored then to be irritated by the subject matter. Thankfully this was to be her last 'boring' class.

Soon class ended, and thankfully this time not many students came to their area. However, both Kazumi and Natsuo watched Iphi's ex and could see he was looking at Iphi. Both got their things together quickly and ended up sticking to her side. What they weren't expecting was for Iphi to suddenly grab Natsuo and say something about inviting her for lunch, rather loudly. Natsuo was genuinely shocked at the physical contact and Kazumi laughed. It was obvious she wanted to get away from her ex and Kazumi played along right along.

"Sure thing Iphi! Why don't you show Natsuo where the best place to eat is hmm?"

An idea popped into her head too. She wanted to know more about the girl's ex, but thought it wasn't a good idea to ask the girl herself. Mafuyu seemed to know about him though. Turning she immediately when to the guy.

"Say, can I ask you something very quick? This won't take long at all!" she said before taking his wrist and dragged him out of the classroom, winking at Natsuo on her way out.

Natsuo rolled his eyes at his sister's antics and turned to Iphianassa.

"Come on, let's get out of here," he said before leading the girl out of the room.

He couldn't help but turn and glare daggers at the ex though. One could tell what he was conveying too 'just try me pal'. When Natsuo got them out of the classroom, he still took the lead though and took her to place outside where there were no crowds.
Once outside, Natsuo felt better. Once alone, Natsuo addressed his classmate.

"I don't think your ex will find us here. The other day when exploring the campus I figured this was one of the places people don't visit much during lunch. Sorry, I guess I should have asked if you brought a lunch with you. I have some here, but it's pretty spicy." he said as he sat on the ground next to a tree and opened his own bento up to reveal his meal of traditional Japanese lunch of ramen, tempura, and veggies.

Only difference was all of the spice cooked into each. One thing Natsuo found lacking in Japanese cuisine was the lack of spices found here. Oh there was wasabi, but the stuff was very mild as far as Natsuo saw. Once nice thing about society was web access, so Natsuo ordered spices online from outside of Japan and got stuff from India and China. With his current meal, Chinese Chili peppers had been cooked in with each element.

Meanwhile, Kazumi had also led Mafuyu to a secluded area outside. She was so tired of being indoors.

"Sorry about that, I just wanted to ask you a question about Iphi's ex really quick. Was it the guy who kept looking at her throughout class and what's his name? I am just really curious and I'd figured you know that much about him. And if you're worried about Iphi being with my brother, I can assure you she's safe with him. Just this morning our younger sister was being harassed and Natsuo was ready to beat the crap out of the delinquents, but someone beat him to it. He really doesn't like guys who target girls. Anyway, I've jabbered on long enough. After you answer my question, you can be on your way and I'll go find Natsuo and Iphi."

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Kazumi Orako Character Portrait: Iphianassa Lykaois Character Portrait: Mafuyu Hanazawa Character Portrait: Natsuo Orako
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mafuyu hanazawa.
dialogue ; #7f9f91. – thought ; #bb7e8c.
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Settling into class isn't so bad, not when he knows he can sit right by Iphianassa again, even if he's rather sure that she wishes he wouldn't. Still, he goes, dropping into his seat next to her along with his bag and skateboard on the floor once again. Leaning back in his seat, he turns a content smile towards her, even as she rolls her eyes and scoffs at him, words meant to probably pierce through him, but he doesn't find himself particularly hurt or offended by a single one of them. Learn to have tough skin, or whatever. He'd had it since he was a child after all.

"In order for me to be mad, I would need to care about what you have to say, but since most of the stuff that comes out of your mouth is either sarcasm or a flirtation, it’s hard to take you seriously," come those sharp words, and he feigns shock again, an overdramatic gasp leaving him at such a pitch that a couple people turn to look in their direction, only to realize it's just Mafuyu, and there wasn't actually anything interesting or wrong going on. Just his antics, as per usual, though most didn't mind them. It came with the popularity, he supposed, even if it confused him sometimes.

"Miss Phig, how could you? And here I thought we were friends!" A little joking, though he wished it were true, honestly. He knows better than to actually think the other woman thought of him that way, not at this point, and who knew in the future. He'd keep trying, but he wasn't one to force anyone to do or tell him anything just because he wanted to hear it.

Regardless, he gives up on trying to piss her off further, lets her tell him about the asshole that was Haru in however little or plentiful detail she desires. He knew he was being nosy, even if the implications only hit him after he'd asked, but still, he wasn't overly keen on seeing that bonfire of garbage harassing someone he, at least personally, looked to as a friend. Or any of his other classmates in general, really. He'd never taken kindly to people like that, flaunting their power and status, whatever else they wanted and treading over others. His mom had raised him that way after all, and after watching his father do so for twelve years of his life, he found himself only being reminded of the man when being in unfortunate proximity with them.

Lucky for them he had a clean record to uphold for his future career, or he'd be sure to make them regret their actions. Not that it could hold him back forever, at this rate. Even in such a small town, the college student-body was full of those who didn't belong near any other being, after all the harm and pain they'd caused.

He won't lie, he's a little surprised when she actually does come out and talk to him about it, giving up the details of a little history, and his brows furrow, twitch into something of a glare most certainly not meant for her, but he doesn't look over at the other man, doesn't want to give him the time of day when he thrived off of that attention. A stalker? Haru had seriously fallen that low? What the hell was wrong with him?

He talks of winning Iphianassa back, but he's too delusional to see that he's just terrifying her half to death? His gaze finally does shift back to the other for a moment, scowl burning into his features at the other who won't take his gaze off the brunette next to him. Seriously, what was wrong with that guy?

Bubbling rage settles for a moment, or is at least pushed to the background as she finishes speaking, and Mafuyu watches her careful, takes note of the body language, the way the wrings at her hands and how her expression turns to something exhausted, wary, uneasy. No doubt these things had taken a toll on her, but who wouldn't it take a toll on? Miyako had had a stalker herself a year or two ago, and thinking of that only draws out the evermore protective side of him, leaves him thinking of Miyako in that position again, but it's Iphianassa here now, and for far too long than she ever should have deserved.

Letting out a quiet breath, he leans forward slightly as if to block Iphianassa from that asshole's view, words tumbling around in his head as he tries to take more care in phrasing his offer, but all he can do is his best, leave it in the air for her if she'd like, even if the thought of her being alone walking through the town at night makes him...paranoid himself.

"You shouldn't have to walk alone at night like that, you know. Not when there's obviously...something wrong." A pause, he tries to catch her gaze, head tilting slightly, "If you want, I could meet you after your shifts. I know you probably don't think of me as...a friend, but at least you wouldn't be alone. I doubt he'd try anything if someone else was with you."

The offer is in the air now, and he gives a small smile, warm and genuine this time, "I won't force you or anything, but I thought it might make you feel better to have someone to walk you home at night."

Hopefully, he thinks, that doesn't piss her off.

Still, a snicker leaves him as he watches her look behind him, sees her hand move up with the middle finger extended towards exactly the person he was thinking of. Seriously, this guy didn't know how to fuck off even when it was spelled out for him, it was beyond obvious. Eventually, he hopes anyway, karma will catch up to him tenfold. The day that happens, Mafuyu hopes he's there to see.

The new siblings are here again soon after though, and his gaze stays on the two of them as they make their way up towards the desks too, approached by Daisuke who seems to already know Natsuo. It's a bit surprising, if Mafuyu is honest; Daisuke was socially-awkward, a little strange at times and most certainly didn't seem the type to mesh well with what he knew of Natsuo so far, someone who seemed to hold a heated air about him, that rarely smiled and spoke even less at this point, though he was sure that would change with time.

It's the awkwardness and second-hand embarrassment that comes from seeing the other male practically melt and fall apart at Kazumi's acknowledgement, taking in her appearance. Surely that was nothing but uncomfortable for her, wouldn't it be? Unless she liked that, but most of the girls he knew ran for the hills when that was a guy's initial reaction. Tact, man. Learn some please... Sighing slightly, he turns away from the odd scene, waiting until they actually find their seats and by then he's already said hello.

"It's nice to see you too! I'll be honest, I am looking forward to this class more then I was the last one." Comes Kazumi's voice, pleasant to the ears and he smiles, nods along with her, "that makes two of us, then. Isn't philosophy such a bore?" He laughs lightly, leaning forward and turning to the side so as to easier face the siblings.

Language arts is in motion soon enough though, the professor entering the classroom and gathering most, if not all attention to the lecture prepared, and at least this time Mafuyu manages to keep focus, take notes even with the distractions of his phone vibrating with a text that he was almost nervous to see who it was from. His mom? Sisters? Or his dad, somehow finding a new way to contact him again? Ignore, ignore, ignore, he had classes to study and pass for his degree, so that he could get his mom and sisters out of that house and somewhere nice, to let his mom work less than two or three jobs at once, just one.

Shifting around slightly in his seat, another hits his phone again, and finally he relents, pulling it just out of his pocket to see the lit up screen and, perhaps expected, an unknown number.

+ 8133-560-1254
XMafuyu, it's your father.
+ 8133-560-1254
XI'd like to meet up. Respond once you receive these messages.

And that's a fuck no from me, asshole. He wants to hiss it out loud, but all he does is toss his phone without a second glance onto his backpack on the floor, quiet hope that the man would stop trying to get his attention until he could get on his phone and block the number.

The rest of class goes smoothly enough, a full set of notes for once in his notebook, and quietly he wonders when exams will be starting up for these classes. They were already two weeks in by now, but usually professors were already scheduling dates for those sort of things, throwing them up into calendars to give him another day to dread. For now, however, the professor doesn't give any out, and the class ends somewhat peacefully as the last.

It's before he can even think or say a word that Iphianassa has suddenly taken hold of Natsuo, to Mafuyu's own surprise, though he certainly knows she would never take hold of his arm like that on purpose. Still, only an idiot wouldn't catch onto the reason for her sudden latching, and as he glances over to the pair now so readily exiting classroom fast past Haru, he laughs out loud over the entire thing. So uncharacteristic of her, but entertaining all the same, and at least he was rather confident she'd be safe with the new guy; or so he hoped. Vibes alone told him he wouldn't have to worry anyway.

It's just that he doesn't expect the hold on his own wrist next, blinking once as he looks back at the pink-haired girl who smiles all brightly at him already, and his brows quirk in confusion. "Say, can I ask you something very quick? This won't take long at all!"

Without any time to respond or think, she's already dragging him away, and Mafuyu isn't sure what to think. This sort of thing had happened in the past, though it was usually when he was dating someone and they wanted alone time with him somewhere. He highly doubted the new girl carried any of those intentions in doing so, but he still laughs along with it as they make their way out of the classroom, him just barely able to grab his things before they're out of reach.

The pace of the dragging slows considerably once they make it outside, but she's still leading him along like some sort of lost child, or so it feels that way. Eventually, she releases his wrist, and he finds himself standing with her somewhere quiet, away from the crowds of students and staff. What was such a secret little spot chosen out for now?

"If I didn't know any better, I'd think you brought me here to have some sort of private date," he tries to joke through the awkward, confused sensation dredging up inside of him, but even he outwardly cringes at his own attempt for a joke, offers an apologetic smile as soon as it's out, "yeah, sorry, that was a shit one."

Pausing, he quirks his eyebrow again slightly, turning towards Kazumi and trying to settle into comfort once more, "ignore what I just said; what's up? Something you need to talk to me about here?"

"Sorry about that, I just wanted to ask you a question about Iphi's ex really quick. Was it the guy who kept looking at her throughout class and what's his name? I am just really curious and I'd figured you know that much about him. And if you're worried about Iphi being with my brother, I can assure you she's safe with him. Just this morning our younger sister was being harassed and Natsuo was ready to beat the crap out of the delinquents, but someone beat him to it. He really doesn't like guys who target girls. Anyway, I've jabbered on long enough. After you answer my question, you can be on your way and I'll go find Natsuo and Iphi."

Her words come out quick, and he almost finds himself falling behind as she talks, but rather than be annoyed with it, he's rather pleased. She seemed comfortable talking to him at least, hopefully didn't mind his presence or his personality of what she knew of it so far. He was a great listener too anyway, so she could talk all she wanted.

"Iphianassa's ex?" He echoes, head tilting slightly before he lets out a hum, wonders if it's even his place to tell someone else about any of the things he'd learned or knew at this point. Well, if it was basic knowledge, that wouldn't hurt anyone, right? Seems he had someone as nosy as himself on his hands, and silently he tries to remind himself not to gossip too much. "Yeah, that's Haru. I'd keep your distance from him if I were you. He's...bad news."

A light laugh, he waves off her second words, "I figured she'd be alright with your brother, he doesn't seem too bad. Pretty sure she could stand her ground if he weren't anyway. Not gonna shit-talk your brother right to your face though, that'd be stupid. He seems cool, maybe he can get her to relax a little."

His arms are crossed over his chest now, fingers tapping absentmindedly at his arm as she finishes speaking, "eh? I mean, I wouldn't mind tagging along with you to see them. Iphi..." He pauses, laughs awkwardly, looks away quickly, "I guess she probably doesn't think of me as a friend. I'll just make sure things are okay and then leave you all to your own thing."

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Kazutora Miyato Character Portrait: Kazuyuki Orako Character Portrait: Velonix Orako Character Portrait: Astraea Mantrenul Character Portrait: Iphianassa Lykaois Character Portrait: Reiya Goertz
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Code- #790D49


”That is not necessary. Whether you are fully clothed or not makes little difference to me."

'Really? Could have fooled me,' Pavo thought.

Astraea probably didn't like the physical reactions her body was showing. From what he knew about her, she liked being in total control. While he did come to admire her for her abilities and good leadership skills, it was nice to see her ruffled like this and made her more human to him, which he did enjoy. For now though he we continue to focus on what she wanted to do.

Watching her, he saw her get some alcohol out, Bailey's, and filled two shot glasses with them. Being French, of course he like alcohol, but he never had Bailey's before. Still the Irish fascinated him. Taking the 2nd glass, also drank the shot quickly after Astraea did. Man did that hit the spot and he was definitely awake now. Next Astraea grabbed a bag of cookies, and with her shot glass and the Bailey's, sat down on the couch. Taking his own shot glass, Pavo joined her.

Taking the Bailey's himself, he refilled his cup and took a cookie that Astraea offered him. While he definitely had better desserts, this would do. Drinking from his shot glass more slowly this time, he listened as Astraea talked again. He did agree that Australia was out of the question.

"Hmmm, did the Seasons ever expressed any interest in any specific area? I know Aurora always loved French things, especially Rococo. You've known them longer then I have." he said.

Even though he would love it if the Seasons were in France, something told him they weren't there.

"Now as far as WHO would want to initially go to Earth, I can only see the girls wanting to go since the boys never fully expressed interest in going. Phoebus would only go for protection purposes. Halcyon would go to be supportive."





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It seemed that Velonix slightly misunderstood her question. Reiya merely wanted to know where Velonix and Kazuyuki came from. Instead she got a life story. The girl seemed to have no secrets, but something about her story was off. At least that's what her instincts told her. Oh, she figured the two siblings weren't blood related, anyone could tell that, but it was like she practiced her answer. That was it! It sounded rehearsed, not natural, even the part about losing her caretakers. Deciding not to worry about it, Reiya merely nodded when Velonix finished.

"I lost my parents a couple years ago . . . so I know how it feels to lose someone dear," Reiya said, trying to keep her voice stable.

It still hurt. Work and other family did help, but it still hurt. She still cried at night from time to time too. Hopefully one day she could fully move on.

When Reiya tried correcting Velonix's behavior, she saw she might have jumped the gun for the girl's attitude seemed to take a complete 180. It went from cheery to a complete meltdown in less then a minute. Instantly Reiya felt awful. She really had only been trying to help. The teen was so distraught, she didn't even hear Velonix apologize to Kazutora nor hear her talk to her. Was there any other way she could have said it? She knew she'd have to apologize.

Suddenly, she heard someone say to her softly, "Don't worry too much about that, I'll talk to her, okay? You didn't say anything wrong. Thanks for trying to look out for my sister a little, too."

Turning, she saw it was Kazuyuki who said it. She honestly didn't know what to say to that, so she simply nodded. Sure, she didn't mean to do anything wrong, but she should have had the foresight to know that might have been a reaction. She still knew she was going to apologize though, if only for her own peace of mind. And she would do that as soon as she finished eating.

However, just when she was almost done eating, it seemed that Velonix finished and started talking again.

"Thank you for spending the lunch hour with me, and I appreciate your help up until now. Again, I apologize for being a bother, and if you do not wish to be friends, I understand."

Suddenly the girl took off and Reiya for once tried finishing her food as quickly as possible. It looks like Kazutora would follow her, but then Kazuyuki spoke up and said he'd talk to her. Looks like she wasn't the only one feeling regrettable since Kazutora looked flustered too. Suddenly he looked at her and an awkward silence hung in the air. Before she could say anything though, Kazutora left the roof. Cleaning up, Reiya was hot on his heels. However he was still faster than her, so she did fall behind slightly. She really needed to work out more.

Lucky for her though, she did see Kazutora run into Kenji. Well, unlucky for Kenji. She was close enough to see the red mark on Kenji's cheek. Now who could have done that?! Well, Kenji did deserve it. Soon enough though, Kazutora himself put Kenji on the floor and Reiya was close enough to get the tail end of what he was saying to him.

"If you wanna screw with me then do it after school!"

Oh that was not good, not good at all. Without even thinking, Reiya pulled out her cell phone and instantly texted Iphi.

Iphi, I hope classes are going smoothly for you. I have been trying to hang out with Kazutora more and Kenji keeps harassing him. Today I ate with him and two new students, their names are Velonix and Kazuyuki Orako. They are . . . really something. Anyway, just now Kenji bothered Kazutora again. I was able to get the tail end of their conversation after Kazutora pushed Kenji to the ground and basically told him to leave him alone and wait until after school. I worry Kenji may do just that. What should I do? I know I promised to keep on eye on Kazutora, but if I tell a teacher, he might get in trouble. I know I keep saying this, but I do wish I was as strong and brave as you Iphi. Anyway, I need to get to class.

After sending the message, Reiya went to her next class. Seeing the siblings and Kazutora, Reiya makes a beeline to them and approaches Velonix.

"Miss Velonix, I am so sorry, I didn't mean to make you upset. I just wanted to help. You're no bother at all either. I just had a huge adjustment myself when I first moved her. I lived most of my life in Germany, so when I moved here after my parents died, it was a big adjustment for me and I was just trying to help you get adjusted. I would still like to get to know you better, if that's okay. Oh Kazutora, are you okay? Please forgive me, but I saw what happened with Kenji and I texted Iphi about it. I kind of panic because I don't want you to get hurt and I know Iphi would do a much better job of protecting you then me."

After that, she sat down and got ready for class.

Setting

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Character Portrait: Iphianassa Lykaois Character Portrait: Reiya Goertz Character Portrait: Natsuo Orako
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”It's hard to trust when all you have from the past is evidence of why you shouldn't."
~Unknown

Speech Code ~ #8A0808
| Thought Code ~ #045FB4




It was only when the person began to speak that Iphignea realized who she had actually grabbed onto. With an internal groan, she slowly raised her eyes to meet those stormy gray orbs that already had left such an odd impression on her. Unable to stop herself, she found his gaze to be hypnotic - otherworldly - and was rooted in her spot, barely registering when his sister cheerfully piped in with, ”"Sure thing Iphi! Why don't you show Natsuo where the best place to eat is hmm?" Her name brought her to reality, however, and internally shaking off whatever that had been, she turned and gave Kazumi a grateful smile - genuine. At least she seems to have a brain. Women have to look out for each other. Maybe she isn’t so stuck-up? She booted the thoughts from her mind; either way, she had promised her parents - they were really her adoptive parents but who really cared at this point? - that she would try to make friends, just as she had her doctor, so it didn’t really matter if the woman had intelligence, so long as she wasn’t a bad person.

Before she could respond, Kazumi was already walking away to speak to apparently Mafuyu - Since when were they friends? - leaving her alone with Natsuo. Alone with Natsuo. Iphi swatted away the thought; just why would it matter that they were alone together or not? A bittersweet laugh escaped her as she exhaled. Even if she wanted to ‘be alone’ with Natsuo, she had already made a promise to herself to not become involved with anyone, at least until after she had graduated. It was just too much work, too much time, and too much heartache that she simply couldn’t deal with when already juggling school and work. Still, a thought bothered her a bit; just what was Kazumi talking to Blueberry for?

"Come on, let's get out of here,"

Jolted from her thoughts, Iphignea jumped a little, almost guiltily. Here they were helping her get away from that disgusting reptile, and she was thinking poorly of them both. I suppose that says a lot about my own character, she thought bitterly. Her parents and doctors were right; she really did need to open herself a bit and try to make friends. She couldn’t stay bitter towards everyone. Not every single person was out to get her, and unfortunately she had to consciously remind herself of this fact. Despite this, she couldn’t help the words that bounced around in her head, telling her that the only reason anyone would want to be close to her is with a goal in mind.

Turning a somewhat strained smile his way, Iphi managed to squeeze out a quick, ”I’m in your care!” before Natsuo was walking away. To make sure she kept up with him she immediately took off as well, clutching her backpack straps uncertainly as they passed a heated Haruto. His expression of anger didn’t last long, though, before he went white as a sheet and took a step back from the pair. She couldn’t tell from the angle that she was at, but somehow she knew that Natsuo was responsible for this abnormal reaction from the man. At least it was enough to keep him from saying anything to or following them, and only once they were out of the room and finally out of his sight did she relax. She couldn’t quite ditch Natsuo, seeing as he had just helped her. Hah, wouldn’t that be super fucked up? She almost snorted a bit at the thought and barely contained the sound. Gods, she was a terrible person, really.

So absorbed in her thoughts was she that she almost didn’t register Natsuo stopping in his tracks. She barely stopped herself from slamming into him - she really needed to start paying attention more - and glanced around their immediate area. It was outside which was nice, and in a fairly secluded area that most of the campus goers didn’t visit, and she could feel the warm rays of the sun kissing her skin. Winter would undoubtedly be back before too long, so she would much rather enjoy the outdoors while she still could before it got to be miserably cold.

A small ping echoed from her pocket, prompting her to remove her phone and swipe it open. It was a message from Reiya, one of her very few friends, and as she skimmed the words her expression began to harden with each sentence.

Iphi, I hope classes are going smoothly for you. I have been trying to hang out with Kazutora more and Kenji keeps harassing him. Today I ate with him and two new students, their names are Velonix and Kazuyuki Orako. They are . . . really something. Anyway, just now Kenji bothered Kazutora again. I was able to get the tail end of their conversation after Kazutora pushed Kenji to the ground and basically told him to leave him alone and wait until after school. I worry Kenji may do just that. What should I do? I know I promised to keep an on eye on Kazutora, but if I tell a teacher, he might get in trouble. I know I keep saying this, but I do wish I was as strong and brave as you Iphi. Anyway, I need to get to class.

Unable to contain herself Iphignea sighed, hand raising to rub at the bridge of her nose. It wasn't the first time and definitely wouldn't be the last that the little shit known as Kenji would try to pick a fight with her precious little Zu-Zu, and every time she'd go and teach him a lesson, but as a wise man once said, 'Stupid is as stupid does. She'd just have to keep beating his dumb ass until she rocked his shit up enough to knock some sense into him. The thought alone caused her hands to clench into fists, nails digging into her palms. Despite her anger, she tapped the open bar and began to type.

We had a couple of new students join us too. Siblings. They seem...decent enough I guess. I'm about to eat with the brother. That blueberry Mafuyu is with the sister. They must be related to your new classmates. They're names are Kazumi and Natsuo Orako. I have an hour after classes until work, so don't worry about Kenji or Zu, I'll take care of the little fucker myself. Thanks for the heads up, wouldn't have known without you. I know he can be a tough nut to crack but I really hope that you can become friends. Just keep on keeping your eye on him for me, please. Thanks so much! You're the best! Have a good rest of your classes!

"I don't think your ex will find us here. The other day when exploring the campus I figured this was one of the places people don't visit much during lunch. Sorry, I guess I should have asked if you brought a lunch with you. I have some here, but it's pretty spicy." Pulled from her phone, she locked it and tucked it back into her pocket. To say that Iphi was surprised was to say the least. She hadn’t even expected him to go along with her words, let alone be willing to sit and share a lunch with her. She glanced around the area again, only then truly registering how secluded it really was. A light flush rose to her cheeks; she would be lying if she said she hadn’t had her own teenage trysts in places just like this. She roughly shook away the thought. Just where was her mind going? Get your freaking head out of the gutter, Iphianassa. What the hell is wrong with you? Stop being so thirsty and go drink some water.

Surprisingly calm, Iphignea approached the tree where Natsuo had chosen to sit. She came to a stop about a foot or so away from the man, dropping her bookbag down to the ground, and then followed after it with her own body. As she sat she tucked her legs underneath her, suddenly conscious of her skirt, and went about rifling through her things to find her rather plain lunchbox. Once located she set it in her lap, found her chopsticks, and broke them apart. ”I do have my own lunch, but I appreciate the offer. I doubt you have anything spicier than me, anyway,” she said, almost teasingly. Was she being 
 Playful with him? Something about the man had her oddly relaxed, more willing to be friendly and less guarded, but she still felt her walls holding strong and true nonetheless. It was nice, though, to sit with someone like this other than Reiya and Tora. It had been a long time.

Plucking up a piece of sausage with her chopsticks, she eyed it for a moment, contemplatively. Almost decisively, she held the chopsticks in his direction, offering them to him along with the juicy sausage. ”Here, you can try mine. If you like spicy food, then you’ll like spetzofai. It’s a traditional Greek recipe with spicy sausage and other seasonings. I may not be a master chef, but I can make this much,” she shrugged.

After they had been eating in silence for a few minutes - it was surprisingly comfortable and serene to be sitting under a tree in the quiet with this man - Iphignea found herself unable to contain herself. She set her lunchbox down in her lap, open and only half gone, and turned a serious look onto Natsuo.

”I really appreciate your help and your sister’s kindness as well, particularly with getting away from my ex ... But to be completely honest with you, I’m a little confused. Why would you help me? You don’t even know me, and I’ve done nothing but be rude to and glare at you since we met this morning.” She wasn’t lying; she was baffled over his actions, but not only his but also his sister’s as well. They didn't know and had only just met her, so what was their aim? Almost everyone had a goal in mind. ”If you think that there’s any benefit of being close to me in any way, you’d be wrong. Not only am I poor, but I also tend to scare a lot of people off with my resting bitch face." At this, she moved the stick in the direction of her features in question, a skeptical look resting there. "I’m not really the type of person that’ll boost your popularity, if you catch my drift,” she warned, pointing a chopstick in his direction. ”So what’s your goal here? I don’t have any money, and I don’t own nice things. I don’t have many friends, and it’s not like I’m pretty; so what’s your end goal? Huh?” For extra measure, she jabbed it in his direction, on the second one lightly tapping it into the center of his chest.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Kazumi Orako Character Portrait: Iphianassa Lykaois Character Portrait: Mafuyu Hanazawa Character Portrait: Natsuo Orako
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Code- #FF1493


The date comment was pretty funny and Kazumi did giggle at that.

"Hehe oh please, if I were to go on a date with you, it definitely wouldn't be in a school setting. Besides, aren't there rules for that here?" Kazumi asked.

Even though Kazumi was the type to bend the rules, a lot, she would never break them without good reason. Like they all pretty much broke a rule by coming to Earth without telling their parents or Astraea. Kazumi knew they were all going to be in for an earful whenever they were found. She just hoped it would be later rather than sooner. Her thoughts refocused on Mafuyu though when he answered her question. So the ex's name was Haru huh? A devious smile appeared on her face when Mafuyu warned her about him.

"Thanks for the warning, but I should warn you, I get a special thrill of putting guys like him in their place. I can't stand guys like that either and if he tries to put any moves on me, I'll crush him," she said menacingly.

She meant it too. Her attitude brightens though when Mafuyu talks about her brother a bit. Oh, she wasn't 100% sure about Natsuo helping Iphi relax since he was pretty uptight himself. He would no doubt protect her. Her brother didn't carry his kendo sword around for show after all. He was very proficient and was taught by the best. The only one who could best him was their main protector Astraea. Now there was someone you never messed with.

When Mafuyu said he'd like to stick around, Kazumi nodded.

"Sure thing! Oh sorry for dragging you off too suddenly. I am hungry so let's go find them. Just give me a second and I'll call Natsuo," Kazumi said before pulling out her cell phone.

After pressing a few buttons, she called him up.

"Hey where are you? . . . Oh that place. . . . uhhhh, sure I know where that is . . . . . okay right . . . . See you soon."

Kazumi was annoyed that she forgotten the location of the place Natsuo had mentioned. It was the exact place they had met that morning before the incident with Kazutora and Vel. Thinking of her sister, she hoped she was still having a good day. Well in several more hours they would know.

"Okay I know where they are. Let's go shall we?" Kazumi said before leading the way again.





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Code- #0000CD


Natsuo, being the observer that he was, did look at Iphianassa as she took out her cell phone and read what he guessed was a text message for her expression changed. The girl was quick to show emotions so she was a pretty easy read. She was definitely not happy about what she read too. Curious, he decided to ask what was up, but before he could even do that, Iphianassa sat down and started talking to him. Her mentioning spicy food cause the corners of his mouth to lift and he found himself smirking a bit. How would she react if he told her he could jump into lava and still think it was pleasant? He was pleasantly surprised when she offered him a bit of her meal. Instead of taking the chopsticks offered to him, he just took his own and took a sausage. He wasn't expecting much, so when he tried the food, it was nice to see that it was really good. It was certainly had a kick to it, but was still a bit mild for his taste. Still what he was eating was not as spicy as he preferred too. After all, his sister made it.

"Very nice. You're welcome to try mine if you like. Sadly I didn't make my lunch this time, it was my younger sister who did since I was too busy training this morning."

After she took one of his tempuras, he started eating his meal. It was pleasant and it was during this time, Natsuo saw his sister and Mafuyu approaching. Iphianassa's back was to them so she wouldn't be able to see them. The girl then started talking again.

"I really appreciate your help and your sister’s kindness as well, particularly with getting away from my ex ... But to be completely honest with you, I’m a little confused. Why would you help me? You don’t even know me, and I’ve done nothing but be rude to and glare at you since we met this morning."

Natsuo looked at her, puzzled.

"Because no one deserves to be treated that way Miss Iphianassa. If there's one thing my siblings and I don't like it's those who prey upon others."

Ipianassa continued on though by saying, "If you think that there’s any benefit of being close to me in any way, you’d be wrong. Not only am I poor, but I also tend to scare a lot of people off with my resting bitch face. I’m not really the type of person that’ll boost your popularity, if you catch my drift."

Natsuo frowned and would have replied, but Iphianassa continued on, "So what’s your goal here? I don’t have any money, and I don’t own nice things. I don’t have many friends, and it’s not like I’m pretty; so what’s your end goal? Huh?"

Kazumi and Mafuyu had arrived in time to hear that last comment.

Raising an eyebrow, Kazumi was quick to say, "What are you talking about Iphi?"

With a flourish, she sat down next to Natsuo, right across from Iphi and took out her own lunch, which was a regular a bowl of ramen and some vegetables mixed in.

"Miss Iphianassa here seems to think that by being around her, our reputations will be shot."

Kazumi's eyes opened wide and she suddenly laughed before saying, "Oh my, it's sweet of you to worry, Iphi, but the last thing we ever worry about is our reputation. And we could care less if you have limited means when it comes to currency, which I always never liked, it causes more problems than solutions. Seriously, the day humanity decided to put a cost on something was the dumbest decision humanity has ever made. Also, as for you not being pretty? Girlfriend, have you ever looked in the mirror? You've very attractive. Isn't she Natsuo?"

Natsuo nearly choked on his food for he wasn't expecting Kazumi to say something like that. Seeing Kazumi's look, he knew she did that on purpose too. Looking at Iphianassa, he felt his cheeks redden suddenly. She was attractive, but for crying out loud, they had just met. Still better to be honest then to lie and hurt the girl.

"Yes she is," he said, not looking directly at her.

Smiling, Kazumi turned back Iphi, "See? If you're not feeling comfortable about your looks, maybe I can help you out there. I do great make-overs. Anyway, let's eat before we need to get to our next classes."

Natsuo was grateful his sister finally stopped talking and just focused on her meal. They continued to eat and after finishing, Natsuo decided to ask Iphianassa about her text message.

"Miss Iphianassa, was something troubling you earlier? I saw you looking at your phone and I can only assume you got a troubling text message."

That got Kazumi's attention and she looked at Iphi to see what was up.

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Character Portrait: Kazumi Orako Character Portrait: Iphianassa Lykaois Character Portrait: Mafuyu Hanazawa Character Portrait: Natsuo Orako
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mafuyu hanazawa.
dialogue ; #7f9f91. – thought ; #bb7e8c.
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Perhaps his joke doesn't fall entirely flat, given the way the pink haired girl before him lets out a small laugh. That was good, right? She didn't already completely despise him? He'd take it as something of a win, that he'd managed to take the smallest step forward in terms of becoming a friend.

"Oh please, if I were to go on a date with you, it definitely wouldn't be in a school setting. Besides, aren't there rules for that here?" He blinks once at the words, and takes this as his second small win. She wasn't completely averse to a date? Enough at least, that she didn't mind playing along with his joke. It makes his smile a little brighter with that in mind, and then shrugs, "probably, I'm good at letting that sort of thing slip my mind though. There's a whole booklet on rules, it's impossible to keep track of them all here." Besides, this was a college campus, wasn't it? Couldn't they be allowed to let loose a little more than in high school?

Probably not, there was still reputation to uphold for universities after all.

Maybe it was something he should catch up on more, given he'd be teaching high school soon enough. Not that he was overly strict, but letting too much slide would let teenagers walk all over him, and he wasn't exactly for that by the time he was free of the school system. In just two years, really, he'd be graduated and working soon enough.

"Thanks for the warning, but I should warn you, I get a special thrill of putting guys like him in their place. I can't stand guys like that either and if he tries to put any moves on me, I'll crush him," Blinking once out of his own thoughts, he finds himself staring at Kazumi for a second longer before his head tilts and he lets out a small laugh. Crush him, huh? That was certainly a choice of words. She wasn't the type to take shit, was she? Iphianassa and her would get along that way, he was rather confident of that now.

"If you say so; don't put yourself in a bad situation though, Haruto's dirty as they get." Mafuyu doesn't think he'd try anything...insane, or so he had thought until he'd crossed the line of stalking with Iphianassa. How long until he went further into that depraved territory? She seems like she'd be able to handle herself, but it still doesn't settle well with me.

Shrugging off the thought of too many unknown futures, he waves off her apology as she turns around to pull out her phone, call her brother and ask where he and Iphianassa ended up. Not far off, probably. It wasn't that big of a campus in comparison to others nearby. Higashi-Naruse only had space and funds for so much, after all, and as much as he would have enjoyed attending college in the city somewhere a little more prestigious, staying close to his sisters and mom, to home, and going somewhere cheaper even with a full scholarship to other places was better for him in the long run.

He was a bit eager to move eventually though, what with Hisao having tracked him down at this point. More anonymity in a city, less in a town of just barely over two thousand people. It wouldn't be long before that trash starting pinning things, or places down a little easier, would it? As long as he stays away from the girls.

Looking back up from where he had been absentmindedly kicking around tufts of loose grass, Mafuyu's eyes settle on Kazumi for a moment as she begins to walk away, and a faint smile comes to him then, "mhm, lead the way, Kazumi. I certainly wouldn't know the directions." His skateboard is back in his hands from the ground, a little careless in its retrieval, and he jogs for a bit to catch up to her and stick to her side, comfortable in the presence they shared for the moment. She really didn't seem too bad, a likeable personality and a seeming caring side to her as well. And yes, she was pretty, but you'd have to be blind to miss that fact about her. It's just the way her apparent personality thus far makes that sort of beauty a little more true, a little more deep than just the skin, and he finds himself appreciative of that. It wasn't always that way, after all. He'd met plenty of people who turned ugly the moment they opened their mouth.

The air is quiet as they walk for a bit, Mafuyu's mind continuing its wandering, but after a second he glances to the pink haired girl again, head tilted ever so slightly before slipping out the question that had been on his mind since they'd first entered, before he'd been able to given they were all in class or the two siblings were surrounded on both sides by curious classmates that wanted to meet them. "You and Natsuo, where'd you guys move from? I figure you're probably not from Higashi-Naruse originally, right? I feel like I would have met you both by now if you were, it's such a small town."

His words are up in the air only a moment before the answer to that question can even be spoken, interrupted by the sound of Iphianassa's voice, her apparent interrogation on the man who she'd had help her escape Haruto earlier before. His brow quirks slightly at the tone, at the words themselves; couldn't people just want to be friends? Though, knowing her, it made sense that she'd question everything that way. It was rather rare that most would seek her out in any positive manner or lacking some sort of ulterior motive, he knew that, he'd watched it go on for several years now, hadn't he? So truly, in the end, no shock here.

"So what’s your goal here? I don’t have any money, and I don’t own nice things. I don’t have many friends, and it’s not like I’m pretty; so what’s your end goal? Huh?" Silently, he follows in with Kazumi, though the woman doesn't seem keen on staying quiet in their positions as she questions her brother on what the conversation was over. "Miss Iphianassa here seems to think that by being around her, our reputations will be shot."

Looking down at her the, Mafuyu tilts his head slightly, faint smile picking up over his features. Sure, maybe reputation was at risk when you hung around those that had the bad rumors and the like hanging around their heads, but Mafuyu was rather confident that anyone who would treat someone else terribly just because of, exactly what they were, rumors would be far from worthwhile. Iphianassa's anger and harsh personality certainly were there for everyone to see, but that didn't make her a bad person. If anything, the brunette reminded him of his sister. Of Ran, who certainly had her own reputation and bad rumors building with each year they spent here. If someone were to treat her badly, how would he feel? Enraged, no doubt. So why treat someone like his sister cold or cruelly?

But there Kazumi goes again, that swift talk, though this time it's more of a pep talk than just general rambling. He listens quietly all the while, nodding along with each statement, stifling a laugh when the question of how attractive Iphianassa was is turned on Natsuo, who half chokes on the food he'd just put in his mouth. If anything was obvious in this sibling dynamic, it was that Kazumi had her way with teasing, and seemingly found every moment to inflict it upon the dark haired male. He often did the same with his sisters, so he could appreciate that. There was just a joy like no other, getting a reaction out of those related to you like that.

In the end, Natsuo agrees, even if he can't bring himself to look at Iphianassa. Mafuyu tilts his head then, looking over to her with a slight piqued curiosity over the situation. They'd practically just dashed away her concerns, or at least done so in the form of words; whether or not she'd take it and consider any weight behind them was up to her in the end.

"People can like you even without material things, you know. It's not all about money, in the end." Maybe it was for some people, but Mafuyu certainly wasn't one to care for it, and most people who did didn't stick around him for long when they caught a glimpse of his wallet. He shrugs lightly though, glances away, "and people shallow enough to only stick to a pretty face aren't worth your time anyway. Not that you aren't pretty, Iphi." It's a little teasing in tone, he's rather sure that he's the last person she wants to hear compliments from anyway.

"Miss Iphianassa, was something troubling you earlier? I saw you looking at your phone and I can only assume you got a troubling text message." Natsuo's voice cuts through a moment later though, and a brow quirks up in her direction at the words. Text message...of what? Had Haruto tried to get ahold of her again? Or was it something else? Well, he supposes he'll stick around just a bit longer to be sure things are alright after all.

Setting

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Character Portrait: Kazumi Orako Character Portrait: Iphianassa Lykaois Character Portrait: Mafuyu Hanazawa Character Portrait: Natsuo Orako
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”Pretty words are not always true,
And true words are not always pretty.”
~Uknown

Speech Code ~ #8A0808
| Thought Code ~ #045FB4




"Because no one deserves to be treated that way Miss Iphianassa. If there's one thing my siblings and I don't like, it's those who prey upon others." The sentiment was nice, but it was hard to believe. It would be amazing news to know that there were still people out there with such a high moral peak, but it was also extremely unlikely and doubtful. She found herself giving him an incredulous glance, and it didn’t help that he had called her Miss Iphianssa. What was with this guy and his formalities? Must be a culture thing? I’m sure he means well but come on - guy’s making me feel old as hell, calling me Miss.

"What are you talking about Iphi?"

The sudden voice jerked Iphignea from her thoughts and she whipped around, almost spilling the remnants of her lunch onto the ground. She just barely managed to catch it in time, but was unable to hide her blazing red face. What she had asked Natsuo had been a private rant; she had lost her control for a minute and begun to demand these answers from him, but she had never intended for anyone else to hear them. Embarrassment of course ensued, engulfing her features. She wasn’t upset with Kazumi for listening to their conversation. It wasn’t like it had been an intentional thing; she had simply overheard, and clearly Mafuyu had. Hopefully the other woman hadn’t heard the beginning of what she had said.

"Miss Iphianassa here seems to think that by being around her, our reputations will be shot." Oh Gods, can this get any more mortifying? Now I sound like a whining pre-teen looking for attention! Here I go, fishing for some attention, tossing my metaphorical hook into the water, she groaned internally. It was the last thing that she had wanted to be seen as by anyone, and hear there were now three people who had witnessed her inadvertently admitting to her own insecurities. How humiliating.

"Oh my, it's sweet of you to worry, Iphi, but the last thing we ever worry about is our reputation. And we could care less if you have limited means when it comes to currency, which I always never liked, it causes more problems than solutions. Seriously, the day humanity decided to put a cost on something was the dumbest decision humanity has ever made. Also, as for you not being pretty? Girlfriend, have you ever looked in the mirror? You're very attractive. Isn't she Natsuo?" Okay, wow, that was a lot to take in all at once, her azure eyes blinking blankly as she soaked in her response. At least Kazumi had said that she didn’t care for material things, and apparently Natsuo didn’t either. Whether or not she was telling the truth was an entirely different situation altogether, but for now, Iphignea decided to take her doctor’s advice and try to look on the brighter side of the situation - that Kazumi was telling the truth, and that she definitely wasn’t lying. But boy, oh boy, that last part of what she said - and why would she ask Natsuo! Instantly any color that had begun to fade from her cheeks was back, her naturally tan skin helping to hide the flush only a bit. Her hands shot to her uniform’s lapels, lifting them as much as she could to hide her cheeks, and she dropped her head slightly so that her hair could help shroud her face, her sudden shyness evident in her demeanor. She couldn’t help it; something about these two new students just made her feel less aggressive, more demure. In an effort to cool herself, Iphi snagged her water bottle and began to take a drink from it, enjoying the cool liquid as it passed her parched lips.

"Yes she is.”

A series of coughs escaped Iphignea as she choked on her water. As she fought the liquid going up her nose - the last thing she needed was to spew water from her nostrils in front of these people - more coughs racking her chest, she waved her hand as though to try and convey that she would be okay in a moment. She was completely caught off-guard by Natsuo’s response to his sister; he thought that she was attractive? What was this, a joke? There was absolutely no way, in either Hades, Earth, or Olympus, that a man who had looks that were so akin to that of the Greek God Adonis would ever find her even remotely attractive. This definitely had to be a joke. What, did they decide that on their first day that they would find the weakest link in their classes to target and make a mockery of that person? Iphignea’s had tightened around the bottle at the thought, her anger sizzling a bit under the surface. Just who did they think they were?

But then there was that little voice, buried so far underneath her surface of ice. She could see this little voice in her own mind and it was as though she were there as well, hands curled into fists as she battled over whether or not to chip at the ice, at the solid block of frozen water, her eyes locked on a doppelganger of herself only feet away in the solid substance. It called out to her, begging her to listen to reason, begging her to remember what her parents had taught her over the last decade; begging her to remember what her doctors had tried - and failed many times to - instill within her.

That not everyone was evil, and not everyone was out to get her. Not everyone had an ulterior motive in approaching her.

As the reasoning slid through her mind, she calmed herself once more and let out a breath, but her mind immediately returned unbidden to what Natsuo had said. Yes, she is. He 
 He thought she was pretty? Another blush entered her face, but behind her hands was the ghost of a small smile at the thought, and uninvited, another thought crossed her mind. He thinks I’m pretty 
 Unable to think of anything else to say in this situation, and knowing that it had been long enough that she really should respond, she managed, ”I 
 Thank you,” she said softly, to both of the siblings.

“See? If you're not feeling comfortable about your looks, maybe I can help you out there. I do great make-overs. Anyway, let's eat before we need to get to our next classes." Iphignea jumped, almost guiltily, but she quickly fanned herself and returned to her normal resting bitch face expression. At the offer of a makeover, Iphignea made a sound with a shrug, but whether or not it was one of agreement could be argued. The offer sat with her though, and she was definitely tempted to take Kazumi up on it. If anything was obvious with a first glance of the new student, it was that she had a sense of style - something that Iphignea was sorely lacking in. Her closet consisted mostly of black or deep red items, a majority of such were pants and tops, with maybe two or three ‘fancy’ pieces thrown in there. She snorted a bit at the thought of her current wardrobe; it left quite a bit to be desired.

"People can like you even without material things, you know. It's not all about money, in the end, and people shallow enough to only stick to a pretty face aren't worth your time anyway. Not that you aren't pretty, Iphi.” She found that pretty hard to believe. Money made the world go round, and if it weren’t for money, you couldn’t survive. Anything worthwhile costs money, and if you didn’t wear the latest clothes or carry the newest bags, you were considered an outsider. He wasn’t wrong, though, in his last statement. It was simply a matter of finding the people who didn’t care about materialistic things. Those people, though, were hard to come by.

With that, she returned to her meal which was now luke-warm at best. Oh well, might as well enjoy what I can of it.

"Miss Iphianassa, was something troubling you earlier? I saw you looking at your phone and I can only assume you got a troubling text message." Ah, here he goes being nosy. Good things can’t last forever, can they? Iphignea really couldn’t stand nosy people - those who put their noses into other people’s business. Plus, there he went calling her miss again. But she also couldn’t deny that both Natsuo and Kazumi had been pretty helpful and nice to her so far; and he had just said he found her to be pretty, so it was unlikely that he was asking with nefarious purposes. Still, it wasn’t exactly her business to be sharing, so she would have to pick and choose her words carefully.

As she began to pack up her empty lunchbox, she spoke.

”Well, first of all - stop calling me miss. I’m sure you’re saying it with the best intentions, but damn, you’re making me feel old,” she rolled her eyes, tucking the box into her bag. With a flick of her arm she zipped it shut and dropped back to sit beside it. She threw up her hand to hold up two fingers. ”Second of all, you’re a bit nosy now, aren’t you?” she tilted her head to the side, almost seeming to be teasing him. ”You should tread a bit more carefully when asking people that you’ve just met questions that could be seen as personal; it may be a cultural thing, but here in Japan, people tend to be fairly reserved and prefer to keep most matters to themselves and within a tightly knit circle.” A third nimble finger flicked up. ”And last but certainly not least; to answer your question, I simply received a text message from a close friend of mine who’s in the high school about a rather disgusting pest infestation that they have in their classroom,” she said this with a sweet smile, but her eyebrow twitched, betraying her underlying anger just at the mere thought of Kenji. ”But don’t worry - it’s nothing that a little bit of ass-kicking can’t solve.” Her smile seemed to darken a bit, a small chuckle escaping her. ”That little ****** is gonna wish he never saw the light of day. I’m gonna cut off his **** and shove it up his *** until he ***** his *** and wishes he ******* his ***** instead,” she happily delivered, cracking her knuckles as she spoke. A somewhat maniacal laugh escaped her as she envisioned exactly what she was going to do when she got a hold on the nasty little vermin that Kenji was. Oh the fun that she was going to have kicking his ass into next week and shoving his head up where the sun didn’t shine for him.

Realizing that she had slipped back into her naturally aggressive self and exposed her easy rage to the trio, Iphignea suddenly laughed sheepishly, relaxed her hands and used one to rub at the back of her head. ”But you guys don’t need to worry about any of that. It’s not like Kenji's going to tell anyone about getting his ass kicked by a girl, and I won’t hurt him badly enough to send him to the hospital. I know my own strength,” she reassured them, flapping her hand in their direction.

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Character Portrait: Kazumi Orako Character Portrait: Iphianassa Lykaois Character Portrait: Mafuyu Hanazawa Character Portrait: Natsuo Orako
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Kazumi was enjoying Iphi's reactions thoroughly. It was obvious she got easily flustered and it was endearing. The added bonus was seeing Natsuo get caught off guard, which was rare, so Kazumi relished in it. She would have rubbed it in more, but she wanted to focus on eating since she was legit hungry. At least she had time to savor her meal. Kazumi saw her brother's meal. She could only handle a tiny bit of spice, certainly nothing like Natsuo. What she called spicy; he would call bland.

Iphi started talking again, firstly telling Natsuo to drop the 'miss'. This caused Natsuo to raise an eyebrow at her. Since when did saying the word 'miss' imply someone was old? From Natsuo's understanding, the word was always used to women who weren't married. Plus, it was another way he showed respect to the female race. Only women he didn't use it on were his sisters, Astraea, and his mother, but that's only because they were on very close to him.

"I make no promises, but I'll try to drop the miss."

After that Iphi made commentary on how nosy they were, about cultural differences, and then finally talking about what was bothering her. The mortal kind of contradicted herself there about warning them to not be so personal but having no issues talking about her problem. Even Kazumi noticed that. She was also aware she still had to answer Mafuyu's question too. So when Iphi finally stopped talking, Kazumi was the one to answer.

"Yes, it's pretty obvious we're not from here. Natsuo and I in particular are the most direct compared to our young siblings. We're all adopted. Originally, we're from Scotland. Well, our adoptive parents are from Japan. Sadly, after their death . . ... we wanted to live in the land of their birth so it's why we came here. We're not quite use to the customs yet."

It was agreed on that Kazumi and Velonix would be the ones to remember the details of their cover stories. Kazumi did not like lying but would rather lie than put her siblings in any kind of danger. Kazumi could definitely put on an act if she wanted to. It's why she sounded sad when mentioning their 'adopted parents'. She conjured up one of her saddest memories to get that kind of effect, which happened to be right after what happened with her sister after her last trip to earth.

"Now as for this Kenji you mentioned, I am sure you can handle him just fine, but I would recommend you be careful with not getting in trouble with the school. Natsuo and I went to check on our sister this morning, who apparently was getting harassed by some bullies, but a nice young man got into a fight with them while protecting her. Unfortunately, that poor boy seemed to be in trouble with one of the teachers, but our sister made sure to tell him that he wasn't the one to cause trouble initially. Vel seemed to really like the guy, but our introduction was short. Vel makes friends pretty easily too. What was that young man's name again, Natsuo?"

Natsuo rolled his eyes. His sister wasn't the best at names at times unless they were pretty original or unique. She would get them eventually.

"Kazutora Miyato, Kazumi. Maybe you should work on your memory more, your head is up in the clouds too much."

Kazumi created a puffy face before saying, "Better that than to be a stick in the mud like you."

Smirking, Natsuo got the last word in, "Sister, if I was a stick in the mud, I wouldn't be able to do this."

Suddenly, his kendo sword, which was originally laying on the ground next to him, was instantly pointed at Kazumi's forehead, before back on the ground a split second later. Kazumi didn't even flinch, not like she used to. Natsuo use to play these kinds of tricks on her as a kid and it did use to get her, but she long gotten used to it. Kazumi frowned at her brother. She would get him back for that later, but not now in front of other mortals. She would definitely remind him to be careful with his abilities too. Natsuo loved showing off as much as she, but they still had to be careful.

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Character Portrait: Kazumi Orako Character Portrait: Iphianassa Lykaois Character Portrait: Mafuyu Hanazawa Character Portrait: Natsuo Orako
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mafuyu hanazawa.
dialogue ; #7f9f91. – thought ; #bb7e8c.
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This group is turning into a lively bunch, no doubt. Mafuyu isn't sure if he's been surrounded by so many strong personalities in a long while, not with the weight of school and its coursework or the multiple jobs on his shoulders. He'd occasionally had a few outings with his other friends, but those were getting fewer and farther between the longer this semester went on. For most, they'd probably look at the gathering and quickly think to avoid it - too tiring to even consider the amount of different energies - but for Mafuyu, this sort of higher energy gathering and talking was more energy rejuvenating than depleting. Social things like this lifted his spirits and mood, little lifesavers and breaks from work and more work.

God, he misses the weekend parties he went to all the time his first few years of university. Silently he hopes that he can start going to them again, once the first wave of coursework and the like die down and his professors chill out on their classes.

So he's happy to listen to the conversation going for awhile, still trying to adjust to the sibling's odd behaviors and snickering a little when Iphianassa tells Natsuo to stop addressing her like she's old. He seems slightly taken aback by that, like it's strange for a young adult in college to not want to be referred to like she's already an old spinster or something at the age of twenty. Maybe where they come from is crazy conservative, but most of the social pressure to marry so young here is only held onto by the grandparents who cling way too much to traditions.

And then a pointed comment on nosiness. He knows it's directed at Natsuo and Kazumi for their continued questions, but he's sure there's a bit of intent towards him as well; he'd certainly prodded at her more than usual this morning, and he takes that as his cue to remind himself to be more careful about that.

His worry over his prior nosiness is whisked away in an instant when Iphianassa suddenly dives into a full tirade of obscenities towards - presumably - a high schooler at the local high school in town. Knowing her, he's not overly surprised by the language she spews in an instant, and to get her so riled up the kid must really be a nightmare.

Still, her clear intention to follow through with her threats gets him to raise an eyebrow. Wasn't that risky? If he ended up going to any authorities, or even just told his parents who no doubt would, couldn't she end up in some deep shit for that? Kicked out of the university, legal trouble, too many things to count on one hand. But she reassures them that they don't have to worry about him going to anyone. Does she know this from experience? Has she gone after this kid more than once? Or was this just her assuming he wouldn't?

While his mind is wandering, Kazumi is speaking, and she pulls a name out despite Iphianassa having given none. Kenji. His brow quirks slightly at that; he knows that name. But there could be more than one Kenji, couldn't there? Even for a small town, repeated names are still possible and plenty common.

"Kenji...Onizawa?" He questions after a moment, pointed glance at Iphianassa who clearly seemed to have some sort of "history" with the high school boy, however seemingly violent it was. "If that's who it is, I know him. His parents have hired me to tutor him for awhile now." Wealthy family, they paid well. Well enough for Mafuyu to stick around despite the teen's behavior; not listening, screwing around, mouthing off and an overall distasteful personality. It seemed he felt like he could do and say as he liked when Mafuyu was just some lower class "beggar" in his eyes that he was "paying" for even though it was money out of his parents' pockets, not his. He knew plenty from what his little sisters would complain about to him too, of the boy none of them shared a class with yet still had to deal with anyway. Apparently Ran had gotten his attention on her in the past once or twice, but she claimed her boyfriend had been enough to get the older boy off her when none of the school staff would do anything about it.

"He's a real piece of work. I don't...blame you for how you feel about him, he's a spoiled brat." Mafuyu would certainly like to have a go at him for harassing any of his sisters, after all. I like to hope that people can change, but something tells me Kenji's already set in stone far too much to do so at this point. It wasn't like he knew all the details of the kid either. How far did he go with his antics? It sounded like too far at this point, but money in a small town usually meant you could get away with just about anything.

Maybe he'd end up a rich version of Mafuyu's own father one day, at the rate he was going.

Another name is mentioned; Kazutora Miyato. He'd heard it tossed around a once or twice vaguely by his sisters, though the only one who knew him more than "just a sort of scary upperclassman" was Miyako, who'd spoken to him briefly when she'd swung by to talk to a friend in the gardening club. "Really quiet and kind of hard to approach," she'd said, "but he seemed a little happy to tell me about what he was growing and let me take some of the ripe strawberries from his box, so I think he's a lot nicer than everyone else always says."

It seemed the teen had a new friend, if Natsuo and Kazumi's sister had apparently taken a liking to him.

A soft sigh, he lets himself relax a little more, glance at the time on the watch that rests on his wrist. Their lunch break would be coming to an end soon, though he didn't want it to. But what could he do?

"Like Kazumi said," he offers after a bit, "I know you said he'd never tell a soul, but it's still kinda risky. I wouldn't want to see you kicked out of university or in legal trouble because he goes and cries to his parents one day. At least make sure to cover your tracks," a half snort, "though I imagine you probably already know that."

He startles slightly, cutting himself off at the sound of something whipping through the air and the sight of the kendo sword pointed at Kazumi. Odd. Concerning? He doesn't know.

It seems like it'll take a lot of getting used to, being around these two.