nightwatch

[Mizukami Ayumu]

Ayumu didn't dislike vacations.

It was just that he preferred the indoors and the paved outdoors, the company of books, chatter amongst chairs and walls, of breezes trolling and tolling along fixed pathways, of things he knew. It was just that he did not like them. He appreciated the view of the kindling sunset, the fine sand between the toes, the gurgling and blubbering of the water scratching on the coast, but time had a way of suddenly drawing long and longer in vacation outings like these.

Or perhaps because he walked a lot. In more confined, more familiar places, he had less to explore; but here, he could probably survey the whole beach and back and still see something new. After all, many people came to this place, and none stayed too long, some only for a day, sometimes even shorter. Or perhaps he simply did not have the right company; his grandparents weren't here, and it was just him, his father, and his sister... and now that it was night, it was just him, on the shore, watching the waters and the moon.

Would somebody else be around?

He appreciated evenings, whether they came with vacations or not. Or even if they came with vacations. The evening was silent, compared to the morning, more placid, but not necessarily dull. It was a time of silence, a time of thinking, a time of rest... strangely, he was up. Perhaps to make up for his not-so-enthusiastic attitude during the sunlit hours. Perhaps being awake right now was not entirely strange to him. Ayumu suffered from insomnia on the oddest days... and he decided, since he was in a scenic place, after all, to spend his wakefulness watching something other than a black, sleepy ceiling.

Nagisa means the beach, the shore, he thought, amongst the thoughts he had that could be turned into words.

[whammy3]

Nagisa Furukawa

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Her father was just so spontaneous. Summer break had just started up, and all of a sudden Akio thought it would be the greatest idea in the whole world to go to the beach for a vacation. Well, technically he had set it up as “Go to beach”, “Play in Sandbox,” or “Picnic”, but still, here they were at the beach. Nagisa really didn’t mind it all though; she loved the beach. Besides, it was the meaning behind her name, so it was also a rather appropriate place to visit for the summer break.

Right now she was just wandering alongside the beach in a simple white summer dress. She really wasn’t up for swimming right now so she didn’t bother with a swimsuit. Besides, it was too dark to go swimming anyway, but still just enough light to walk along the beach and enjoy the sounds of the ocean, and that salty smell. Of course she was barefoot right now; the sand was cool and soft underneath her toes. It was not a real walk on the beach if you had some kind of footwear on, right? Looking over at the water, she stopped as she saw the reflection of the moon on the water, and the pale moonlight itself. It was just an amazing view, that was all. As much as she hated to admit, you couldn’t get such views in town (though she loved the views of the town of course). It was moments like this that made trips worth it.

Now she just wished that she had someone else here. Her father was off, well, she didn’t know where. There was an arcade on the boardwalk somewhere, and she had a feeling he was probably winning some tickets there big time. Her mother was probably in the hotel room right now relaxing, or keeping an eye on Akio. Lucky for the local population, her mother really couldn’t bake out here. Sure, Nagisa didn’t think her bread was that bad, but even she knew that the people of her town occasionally thought it distasteful. Hmm, maybe her mother was looking for new bread recipes? There had to be some interesting new breads around here somewhere….

Lost in her thoughts, Nagisa eventually spotted someone else on the beach. With the moonlight she was able to make out just enough of the person to realize it was someone she knew. It was, uhm, Ayumu-san, right? The boy she had run into in the hall back at school and a friend of her’s younger brother. Hmm, that was quite the coincidence, wasn’t it? To just meet someone else she knew out here. Then again, this beach was a popular tourist location, so maybe it wasn’t that odd. Nagisa started to walk over to him, but then realized that might not be the best idea. He was obviously going to be here with his own family, and he was enjoying himself right now. It wasn’t her place to interrupt his vacation like that, even just to say hi. Standing still in her spot, Nagisa glanced over at him a little bit, just to see if he was looking. If he invited her over that would be fine, but she wasn’t going to invite herself…

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[Mizukami Ayumu]

The calmness was a sort of calmness that was a little new to him. Night was no stranger to him, but he had never met it before here, in this sandy frontier, where land meets the sea. He wondered what possessed Furukawa-senpai's parents to name her after this sight... could it be this strange, washing peace? He folded his legs, succumbing to the desires of his battered knees, and sat comfortably amongst the innumerable grains. He breathed in, and then out, smelling and tasting the briny air.

He wasn't yet very assured of himself, that he knew his senpai enough. Both this scene and senpai had an allure, though he could not compare the two easily... the sand and the sea... even though you create a castle here, write your name... it kind of reminds you that certain things.. most things... are mercurial.. Then again, there were things that do not change; the sand and the sea remain, under the moon, keeping their schedules... it was beautiful. Change amongst the unchangeable. Maybe he could write about it... the right words... he wondered how they would come to him.

A little wind danced and got into his eyes, and he rubbed them off. Another came, a little more violent, and so Ayumu turned his head from the general direction of the sea, and rubbed his eyes furiously. The sight that came upon him was illuminated by the moon, clear and white; he remembered moonlight, moonshine... superstitions once stated that the moon created lunacy. He felt like a lunatic, just a little. There was the Nagisa in the nagisa... Furukawa-senpai's family must have been in vacation here. The mystique of the moon, eh?

Not knowing what to say, he merely uttered, "Furukawa-senpai?", not entirely knowing what would happen next. Change among the unchangeable...

[whammy3]

Nagisa Furukawa

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Nagisa simply stood out looking at the sea, occasionally glancing to see what Ayumu-san was doing. She thought that doing such was rather rude, to keep glancing at someone like that. Still, it was rare to find someone you knew out on vacation like this. Also, he did seem to be rather nice, and with her lack of friends that had to count for something right? While she didn’t want to interrupt what looked like a peaceful moment on his part, at the same time she sort of hoped he would notice her. If at the least, they could say hi to each other. Sure, she liked hanging out with Okazaki and Sunohara, but at times their antics and stuff could be a little stressful to deal with. Ayumu-san seemed a little more like her, so he wasn’t as stressful to be around.

Seeing as glancing over at someone was rude, of course, she instead moved her focus to playing in the sand. Drawing in the sand was always fun, even if eventually the waves would come and erase the work. It was a nice little comment on eternity she guessed; no matter what man did, eventually time and nature would erase it. That seemed a little depressing though, but at the same time a little mystical. This was a vacation though; not the best time to be going deep into philosophical thoughts. For now, instead, she was just going to doodle in the sand. Obviously, the choice of what to doodle was rather simple. By the time that Ayumu-san had finally asked if it was her, she was rather engrossed in doodling the Dango Daikazoku, as she often did.

”Dango, dango, dango, dan…go!” She exclaimed at the end, finally hitting her that someone had called for her. Glancing down at the four or five little dangos she made, she turned around to give Ayumu-san a small wave.

”It’s nice to see you again Ayumu-san. A little surprised to see you. Please forgive me for being a little startled though. I-I was having fun drawing the Dango Daikazoku.” she said, a little embarrassed at admitting that. As much as she loved them, some people gave her odd looks at loving them so much at her age, especially since it had been a small fad just a few years ago that no one really cared about now. But she loved them all the same; it was the perfect representation of love and family after all. Plus, they were so adorable….

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[Mizukami Ayumu]

It seemed that Furukawa-senpai was... busy with something while he had not been looking. Had she been here already, even as he pondered... things, and had simply not noticed her? It would have taken some time to draw in the sand, that he was sure. Furukawa-senpai sure is quiet... he thought... or perhaps, he simply wasn't paying enough attention. Well, attention span and attention for detail wasn't exactly part of his talents... even though, ironically, he liked to stare and watch things.

He immediately stood up, roused by the appearance of somebody he had been thinking of, and looked at what she had been doing. He... wasn't exactly sure how to go about this. Senpai sure had a talent for appearing in the least expected places.... he must be better prepared. Well... it seemed she recognized him, and she had noticed him. "Where you there for a long time already, senpai?" he asked, after a bit of a pause and some hesitation. He wondered if Senpai would dislike him just because he hadn't noticed her immediately... well, he liked to imagine Senpai wasn't as shallow as that, and Senpai hadn't called his attention, either... did it mean that if not for his turning to look back, he would probably have not seen his upperclassman? He felt a little depressed with that thought.

Well, but perhaps I could have heard her murmuring Dango... Dango are meatballs, right? He now looked at his schoolmate's simple little masterpiece, and it was... charming, in its own way. The illustration was childlike, but neat, simply circle with scratches for eyes, uniform, almost without major differences from one another. He, a little embarassed, sought to escape the issue about not noticing his crush and all that, even if it seemed Furukawa-senpai didn't mind. "Um, it's okay to be startled, Senpai..." he muttered, a little guiltily.

"Dango Daikazoku?" he asked, trying to feign attention, even as his face was still a little flushed from the thought that he had failed in detecting the eminent Furukawa-senpai. Well, the questioning part was mostly true; he didn't really know about the series, since he wasn't in Japan for quite some time... definitely not during his childhood. Daikazoku... a large family? That seems interesting. My family's not that large...

[whammy3]

”Oh, no, not really.” Nagisa replied when Ayumu had asked if she had been there long. Admittedly, it was more cause she didn’t know how to answer. Her drawing had engrossed her enough that she had no clue how long she had been there. It was always like that when she drew the Dango Daikazoku. She was once almost late for class after lunch because she had gotten caught up in drawing them. Of course, now she had almost ignored someone being there because of them. But they were just so adorable….Oh, she shouldn’t ignore him now either!

”Have you been here long?” she asked, wanting to see how his situation had been. His attention, however, had gone down to the drawing she had made. It was a little embarrassing to see him look at it, but he wasn’t saying anything was a good thing, right? Or did it mean he thought it so weird he was speechless? However, he was more concerned about startling her, almost apologetic when he said it was okay to be startled.

”No, no, I should have been paying more attention to my surroundings.” she replied, a weak smile of apology on her face as she did so. It was bad to not pay attention to the people around her after all. Eventually, however, the attention went back to the Dango Daikazoku, but the way he asked it made it seem as if he didn’t know about them. How could he not? Unless, of course, he hadn’t been in Japan during the craze or had forgotten them. However, she was the expert on the family, and as she began to talk about them one could easily see she was very, very excited about it. After all, it was the thing she loved the most in the world.

”The Dango Daikazoku was a craze from a few years ago, though as you can see I never got out of it. But they are just so adorable, and they look like such a happy family that I can’t give them up. Everyone is so happy and together, it’s just so beautiful.”

Like a little child with something cute in front of them, Nagisa had gone into a slightly blissful state. Her mind on the Dango Daikazoku, her thoughts of course went right down to the song. Forgetting about the fact that Ayumu was right there, she began to sing it again….however, she only got through the “Dango, Dango…” line before she remembered that Ayumu was there. Embarrassed again, she looked up to him again and apologized.

”Oh, I’m sorry, you probably don’t want to hear the song that went with it, do you?” she asked, slightly sad but hopeful that he would say yes to it. Of course, they might not have time for the whole song. She would have to track down a CD of it or something for him to listen to when he had the chance. If he said yes of course.

[/blockquote]

[Mizukami Ayumu]

"Hmmm..."

It seemed that Furukawa-san didn't think his inattention was that much of a problem... perhaps she had been busy, too. In any case, he hoped it would be all right to assume that he did not do anything wrong. Maybe he was overthinking these sorts of things again. Well... better to focus on the topic at hand. Dango Daikazoku... he repeated again, in his thoughts.

"I've been here for a while..." He wasn't really paying attention to the time; it wasn't as if he had to, being in a vacation and all. Besides, cell phones and watches were cumbersome to take where they might get wet... and it always felt like you didn't have that much to burden you when it's just you and the clothes on your back.

In any case, he had turned his focus to what his senpai had drawn, seeing as he had worried too much for the first few minutes of his encounter with his Furukawa-sama... they were supposed to be meatballs, but to him, they seemed a little like plump, chubby, infinitely friendly blobs of goodwill. It was hard to think of these imaginary creatures as malevolent, though that would be an interesting subversion or inversion... but he didn't feel like dwelling on that.

Their simplicity... it seemed like they were meant to target children... he wondered how long ago this series premiered; well, he had watched children's shows with his little sister before... "I... haven't really seen them before, Furukawa-senpai." He kept himself from being apologetic; he was starting to learn that he shouldn't be too guarded because it might give him away... a little too soon. So, it might be said that it was an untoward form of guarding.

"Well... they look... okay. A family..." he said. A really large family... that probably wouldn't be realistic nowadays... he wondered if he could be part of one... it was a novel concept. He could probably think about how everyone is of one family... or those ideas that are like that...

Furukawa-senpai seemed really interested in them; scratch that, she really seemed very enthusiastic with them, and he almost felt that if Furukawa-senpai were the sort of person to be loud and rambunctious, she would have cheered and announced to the whole world her love for these little, plentiful creatures. Perhaps it is just her natural mildness, or her consideration that some people may not appreciate the chibis, that she isn't going all out on him. Then again, she already sang the song... it seemed that she was embarassing herself with showing how much affection she was pouring on the itty bitty munchkins.

How cute. That idea grazed Ayumu's psyche and made him embarassed, too. He had seen fangirls before, only, well... he had never seen a fangirl of a children's show before... he scratched his head, as if in so doing he would find an appropriate response. The moon seemed to be watching... I think I'd like to be one of these creatures. Furukawa-senpai seems to like them a lot... he stopped himself from blurting the thought out. Nighttime was playing its tricks on him again... he had to be careful... did he want to be careful?

"...it sounds okay..." muttered the Mizukami. He felt a little disappointed in himself that he couldn't give a reaction that was less... neutral. He felt a bit alienated... that he could not share Furukawa-senpai's wide-eyed enthusiasm... that shimmer that polished her eyes, and that frivolity, just a little subtle, that accompanied her gestures when she talked about them... it made her a little more animated. Furukawa-senpai looks more beautiful this way. He smiled, blushing a bit.

"...you could sing it." he uttered. "The song." Maybe I'm not being clear... "I'd be happy to listen." to you. He tried not to smile wider.

[whammy3]

Nagisa Furukawa

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”Oh…” Nagisa replied, hoping that her ignoring him for a long time hadn’t hurt his feelings in anyway. It wasn’t like she was trying to hurt him though; she had just gotten distracted with her Dango Daikazoku. That, and she was a naturally shy person, so it wasn’t like her to go up to someone and say hi, especially when they were on vacation. But it didn’t sound like he was upset about it, so maybe he was fine with it all?

”Are you here with your family?” she asked next, to see if she was holding him up from spending time with his family. If she was, then she wanted him to head off and be with them and not hang out with her. After all, family was the most important thing a person could have. Only reason she wasn’t with hers right now is she had lost track of them, and her dad had told her to go out and enjoy herself as long as she didn’t bring any boys home or something like that. He was just being weird…she hoped.

In any case, the conversation soon turned back towards the Dango Daikazoku, and his admitting that he hadn’t really seen them before. She was slightly disappointed about, but couldn’t blame them. They were an old fad that probably wasn’t directed towards boys and such. However, when he said they looked okay and a family, Nagisa’s mood greatly improved. He had seemed to get the point right away, and with her excitement she was pretty quick to start explaining the concept and what the family and everything was. However, she did restrain herself a bit, not wanting to appear obsessive or scare him with her passion for them. That, and if he wasn’t really into him (admittedly he didn’t sound that enthusiastic about them), but she was really tempted to sound more passionate about them. After all, they were probably the second-biggest thing in her life that she loved, right behind her family.

Eventually her rant came to a close, but was a little sad to hear a muttered response from Ayumu. Maybe he really wasn’t that interested in them? Maybe she had been too passionate and scared him? Maybe bringing them up had been a bad idea and she should have just brushed the sand and picture away. Now that she had that thought in mind, she blushed a little in embarrassment and fear. If he wasn’t that interested in them, and she had just acted so excited about them, that she couldn’t help be embarrassed about it. Just as she was about to apologize for it, he said that she could sing the cause. Her eyes glimmered a moment in hope, but she cautiously asked about it.

”A-are you sure about that?” she asked, and got a response that he’d be happy to listen. Excited but cautiously, Nagisa closed her eyes and began the song.

”Dango, dango, dango, dango, dango, dango daikazoku…” she started off, before moving into the rest of the song. As she started singing, she had forgotten that Ayumu was there, and instead focused completely on the song as her mind filled with images of the little dangso on their world, and the big, happy family that they were.

(OOC: Song with Lyrics)

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[Mizukami Ayumu]

She started, and he listened.

Under the moonlight, on the sands, he heard her voice and hung on to it. It was the first time he had heard Furukawa-senpai, Furukawa Nagisa, sing; and though the song... was not, in musical and technical terms, something that proved the mastery of the singer, the song was good. Songs... songs were sometimes masterful because they were simply masterful in their creation; but more than that, songs were, first of all, expressions. This song was simple, as much of what he had seen of the Dango series up to now. Still, the song held an unspoken message, beyond those of the easily understandable words that made up its lyrics. There were no instruments, of course, unless one imagines that the waves sloshing are keeping in tune; still, that did not deprecate the clear voice of Furukawa.

So they're exactly a hundred... he murmured to himself in his mind, almost as if he were taking notes. Sometimes he missed the little things, and sometimes he noticed them a little too much. The song talked about the family; of some of its members, and how they lived in their meatball planet with the rabbits on their moon... he wondered if the rabbits had a daikazoku too. Still, even as he paid attention to the lyrics, he couldn't help but pay more attention to Furukawa-senpai herself.

She continued, and he listened, attentively.

The melody was soothing, very much like his senpai. He wondered if he liked the song because his senpai was singing it; he wondered if he liked the song because his senpai was liking it; he wondered if he didn't really like the song and was just trying to like it because his senpai liked it. He decided he will like it. He smiled, watching her go over the words, like a river going through its bends... like the sea going through its tides. It came... so naturally to her. Maybe Furukawa-senpai wasn't the best of singers, but Ayumu decided, that Furukawa-senpai was the best singer of all, here, now. There was no need to separate the song from the voice.

She ended her song.

Roll up all the happy and sad things...awesome. He liked that line. He made it a point to ponder. Still, pondering came after attending to Furukawa-senpai. "That was good, Furukawa-senpai." He wondered if he should clap. He tried to suppress the thrills going up and down his spine, that sort of shiver when you found something enlightening or simply breathtaking. It was... hard to describe, and so Ayumu let the rest of his mildly smiling silence to speak of it.

"I'm... here with my family. Are you, too, senpai?" Families, huh? I wonder what it's like to have a lot of people in your family... mother... He looked at his senpai; did she have siblings? There were many things he wanted to ask her... but he wasn't so sure if he should, and how she would react. Then again, he couldn't be sure of anything, but he did not want... to offend Furukawa-san. He enjoyed her song, and her meatballs... so at the very least he wanted her to be comfortable.

That was going to be tricky, with Ayumu's current frame of mind.

[whammy3]

Nagisa Furukawa

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By the time she had ended her song, Nagisa had almost forgotten that Ayumu was there. That tended to happen everytime she really got into the song. She just couldn’t help it thought. Just the thought of that loving family made her troubles melt away, and she forgot about the rest of the world in the process. It was just his presence here (she usually didn’t sing the song in front of others that often) that kept her planted in the world. Nervously, she waited to see what his reaction to it all was, hoping that it wasn’t anything negative. Of course, if it was, she would probably go into a heartfelt defense of the Dango Daikazoku; she did a better job of uplifting and defending it than herself. It was odd, but she didn’t notice the discrepancy that much.

When he said that it was good, Nagisa’s eyes sparkled just a little bit in joy with a smile. He was smiling to, so she felt it best to believe the comment was sincere. Glad to see she didn’t completely embarrass herself, and that he seemed to enjoy the song as well, she felt a lot more comfortable with him. After singing it out loud it would be hard to embarrass herself anymore, right?

”Thank you,” she replied with a slight sense of joy but still retaining some quiet demeanor,”I’m sure I can get you a copy of the song if you want it, original singer and all.”

That wasn’t a far off comment. She owned just about every piece of Dango Daikazoku memorabilia that she could find. Having a copy of the song on disk or something was obviously something that she had in her collection. It wouldn’t be hard to give him a copy of the song, if he wanted it that is. She was always glad to help spread the song around and brighten up people’s lives.

With the conversation coming back to families, Nagisa found that he was in fact with them. She looked a little worried at that. Mostly just fear of keeping him away from them by talking to him like this. But he didn’t sound upset or anything like that, so hopefully he was okay talking to. He also asked her about being with her family, and of course Nagisa didn’t really have a fear of discussing such things.

”Why yes, I’m here with my mom and dad. I think she’s out looking at bread recipes, and he might be at the arcade…” she trailed off, more due to an unsureness than a shyness situation. Her dad was like a big kid; for all she knew he was riding some roller coaster at the amusement park or something like that. The arcade was just where she had last left him, with him on his way to winning some toy lightsaber or something that he really wanted. It was really funny seeing her dad racking up the points in ski-ball to win that.

”So anyway, I hope I’m not keeping you from your family or anything.” Nagisa added in, hoping to confirm or deny her fears.

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[Mizukami Ayumu]

Ayumu smiled at her senpai; the afterglow of her little performance still was there. He was... not as worried as he was, as he had been. He had... found something about his, erm, crush, and he might just use his free time later, when in the vicinity of pockets of information such as computers and libraries, in being a bit of a fanatical researcher on the subject of this slit-eyed, limbless meatballs. Okay, adorable meatballs. Perhaps being awake was not so bad after all.

"Well..." he began, replying in turn to his upperclassman's question. "...I reckon they must be sleeping right now." he said. He wondered why Furukawa asked about it; it was not like he'd be here if he had to be somewhere else... well, more likely, felt like being somewhere else. "I... don't think they need me badly right now." he mentioned, honestly.

Mizukami Ayumu often wished he could pry more into other people's psyches, know them a little more closely, find out just what they were thinking. It would be fun to be so acquainted with somebody you felt how she would feel. He had never been exactly as empathetic as he could have wanted. He guessed he would be labeled as dense... did it un-dense-ify you if you knew you were being dense?

He also wondered about his senior's parents. Recipes seemed a little likely, but arcade... well, Ayumu hoped he would still have time for games and entertainment when he got older and independent, though he was never really an arcade gamer, much less a proficient one.

His grandfather and father and younger sister were most probably fast asleep, comfortable, resting off all of their activity from the earlier parts of the day; perhaps they were aided in their entry to lethargy by their exploitation of stamina, unlike he who had been the lethargic one while the sun had been up. They didn't seem to have nightmares... Ayumu for his part, had some that you could call nightmares, although the boy woke up more puzzled than shocked or scared after one of them.

He lapsed into a bit of a pause. What else could he say? It seemed he had inadvertently ended the current flow of the conversation. He reviewed what had happened... they had been talking about the Dango, and then came to an inquiry about their respective families... Furukawa's having things to do, and his, snoring peacefully... He feigned, as he thought, looking unto the horizon... at the very least, he was good at making wispy looks unto the distance. He hoped he was handling himself okay enough in front of Furukawa-senpai.

"Isn't 'beach' in Japanese your name, Furukawa-senpai?" he asked, blurting out the first thing that came to mind. He wasn't really good at finding topics for things... well, at least he thought so. Perhaps he shgould have continued on the vein of the Daikazoku? Maybe he could steer the conversation back to it, but the words were out of his mouth...

[whammy3]

Nagisa Furukawa

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So his parents weren't busy or anything like that. Nagisa felt much better with that knowledge. She wasn't wanting to keep him from being with them or anything like if he was suppossed to or would rather do so. If he wasn't needed, then she felt less guilty keeping him here with her Dango Daikazoku fangirlism. Nagisa would have never forgiven herself if he was keeping him away from them; after all, her parents were her best friends, and family had to stick together at that. Since that wasn't an issue right now, however, she could safely talk with him. Though admittedly, telling him what her parents had been doing was kind of embarassing; she didn't think too many parents were out playing at arcades.

"Okay then, that makes me feel better. I would hate to have to keep you away from them if you would rather spend time with them." she responded, not as nervous or guilty now that she knew he was free.

She then waited patiently as they stood in silence, though admittedly she didn't like awkward pauses that much. Still, she was trying to let him have some control of the conversation. Right now she felt like she was the one dominating the conversation and choosing the topics. That was rather rude and not like her, so she was just standing quietly till he brought something up himself to talk about. The topic he chose; the meaning of her name. That seemed rather odd to her, but she could run with it. Name meanings were always a nice way to introduce people. Besides, she wanted to ask him about the meaning of his name; that would be a good way to get something going on for conversation.

"Hai, it is. I'm not really sure why my parents chose it, but they seem to enjoy it. My dad likes making puns with it when we go on vacation though....A-anyway, do you mind telling me about your name then?" she asked, hoping it wasn't too prying into it. Still, she rememberd something about his family from being from another country, so whatever his name meant here could mean something else from wherever he was from. Better to ask than just assume since, well, everyone knew that saying.

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[Mizukami Ayumu]

"Names..."

He was all too ready to reply. Ayumu could be a bit enthusiastic. With his friends, he could be talkative. With people he admires... like Furukawa-senpai right now, it was more of a hit or miss. There were times that he would be awkward, though with Furukawa-senpai's demeanor, it sometimes feels like they were just imitating each other... the junior was glad that they hadn't yet reached the point where they excessively apologized to each other.

Some other times, however, Ayumu would forget himself. Such was this time, and he was a bit like Furukawa with her Dangos; only it wasn't what he was talking about that he was particularly enthusiastic about, but the one who was talking to him and the one he was talking to.

"Ayumu was given to me by my dad... it's a Japanese name..." he said, having similar, and not-so-similar things in mind as his senpai; his name was more of this country's, the country of his father, which sometimes he did not still feel as his own. It was unlike his sister's, which was a simple English name. Or whatever its origin was.

The Japanese, as he had read from history books, had been quite a closeted sort of people... and they were pretty unique, though they did quite a number in a certain war, but that topic was unrelated... and even then, Asian names were simply very different from their Western counterparts. Everyday words could be names. Now, what was it that his name meant, again? He wasn't really sure... but of course he should know the kanji, or else he would have failed writing his name on test papers...

"I think part of my name means 'to walk'... and then the other part means 'a dream, a vision'..." he mused. His eyes fluttered from the night sky and the ocean to his unexpected, but definitely wanted, companion. He wondered if looking too much on the person you are talking to is bad... or maybe he was just being overly conscious, as always. He felt a little limited, but it was not at all hindering; the emotions were contradictory, but not at all unpleasant. To talk with someone is to share a bit of yourself...

Becoming a little more daring, Ayumu asked his own question."Senpai, have you ever wondered why your parents gave you your name?"

[whammy3]

Nagisa Furukawa

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Nagisa noticed that this time around, as Ayumu talked, he was rather more enthusiastic about it. Apparently he was rather proud of his name or something. Nagisa guessed that was okay; as long it was something he was passionate about she couldn’t complain. After all, she had gone on her spiel about the Dango Daikazoku; she couldn’t judge him for his name. Besides, she had asked for it after all. So she listened patiently as he explained the name was given to him by his father. It seemed to take him a moment to recollect the memory of it. Eventually he began to explain it and reaffirmed some thought she had about it. A combination of walk and dream.

”Well, I think it’s a wonderful name Ayumu-san.” she responded politely. What she didn’t say is that she thought the name fit him rather well. After all, he always seemed to be walking around with his heads in the clouds, oblivious to the area around him. It was as if he was walking around in a dream all the time, so to speak. Of course she didn’t point this out; some people didn’t enjoy be told they were walking around like that all the time.

However, when asked if she ever wondered why her parents named her Nagisa, she was at a loss on what to say. She really never did think of why her parents named her that; and chances were the only people who could seriously figure that out would have been her own parents. Admittedly, as much as she loved them, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to know what their thought process had been on her name. She loved the name of course; it was a part of her now. But she would half expect her father to say it was for some joke reason like….well she couldn’t think of any, but she’d expect one.

”No, I’m sorry to say I never thought of it. But I might ask my parents about it one of these days. It might be interesting to see what they say about it.” she responded, smiling a little about it.

Her mind then wandered onto her own little selfish thoughts; the Drama Club. Sure, there was a break right now, but she still wanted to get it reopened. She remembered that Ayumu had thought about joining but didn’t have any definite opinion on it. Now might be a good time to ask about it, though Nagisa wasn’t sure if it was the polite thing to do. Still, she was starting to feel comfortable enough around him to open up a little bit; at least enough to ask about it.

”S-so then, have you, have you thought anymore on joining up in the Drama Club?” she asked, nervous and hoping he didn’t mind the question at all.

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[Mizukami Ayumu]

The atmosphere was a little complex, though it did not necessarily mean it was unpleasant; it was a bit tense, at least on the young Mizukami's part, but otherwise it was relaxing. The scenery's stillness gave way to his companion's polite, simple speech, and while others may find nothing much interesting in this situation, Ayumu was, in his own way, engaged. He felt a bit suspended; the seconds wore on, and even though he didn't want this conversation to end so immediately, there was a certain strange feeling one gets when someone is with a special person. He felt a little antsy, in his own passive way.

They had finished discussing names, with Furukawa-senpai's last remark. He wondered if he could bring up more topics with her... somehow, he wanted to know more about her, though he didn't want to encroach so readily... or at least appear to do so. A fluttering pause grazed their exchange of words, and before he could think of something else to talk about, Furukawa-senpai spoke of a certain concern she had: the Drama Club.

"Hmm..." mouthed Ayumu, his thoughts wandering. They had spoken about it before, and he had definitely said that he would think about it; it was one of the things he knew about Furukawa-san, one of the things she was enthusiastic about. (The other was Dango Daikazoku, which he had found out relatively recently.) He had yet to pass by more frequently at the Club's desolate room, and he had yet to assess what to do. Of course, he wanted to join a club where his senpai was involved, but he didn't want that desire to govern his judgment.

Well, actually, he wanted to, he just felt that it might be a little too rash. He was actually very tempted to do so. However... "Furukawa-senpai... I'm sorry if I can't give you a definite answer yet." he muttered in reply. He felt a little guilty; part of the reason he couldn't decide yet was that he had yet to gather the, erm, necessary information. He hoped Furukawa-senpai wouldn't be that displeased. "I can't decide yet." To tell the truth, he had not beein in any actual club before; he had yet to find one that seemed to be worth his time and the expunging of his occasional laziness.

Trying to shift the conversation, and partly, also, because he wanted to know, Mizukami asked. "How are things?" Maybe he really should join the club... maybe this sort of situation entails for a sooner-better approach. "In the Drama Club, I mean. How are the senpais?"

Furukawa-senpai had inadvertently given him something to talk about. Hopefully it was something that Furukawa-senpai wanted to talk about to. Maybe he could get something from her replies that will convince him. Hopefully his senior would forgive his rather persistent indecision.