Shattered Dreams [Kohaku]

[Hayashi Yuki]

Please enjoy reading this thread!
Let us all do our best to bring about a glorious revival. =w=

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Date: April 21st, 2003. Monday.
Time: 5:30PM

Yuki held his hand close to his chest, willing his pounding heartbeat to calm down.

'Ah, I'm so nervous...! What if they're in the middle of something? What if I interrupt?! Ah, I really hope that I won't get in the way..." Yuki's thoughts were in a complete mess as he thought about what he was going to say as he introduced himself to the drama club.

'Maybe I should just go home...' He continued, beginning to feel disheartened.

'No! I need to be brave! How else am I to realize my dream?' He thought to himself, preparing his heart for whatever was to be in the room he was about to enter.

But he couldn't have been less prepared for what actually lay in wait for him as he opened the door.

"Hello, I'm really sorry if I'm interrupting something but I want to join the--" Yuki froze as he was met with complete silence. In the darkness of the room he wasn't able to see much, but it was certainly clear that this room had fallen into a state of disrepair.

...this couldn't be real, right? Surely it was some kind of jest; he must have gotten the wrong room...right?

He desperately hoped that he had made a stupid mistake: perhaps he had taken a wrong turn, or maybe he'd walked into the wrong building. It wasn't a rare occurrence for him to get lost; he barely paid attention to his surroundings half the time and was prone to misdirection... or so he told himself.

All it took was a look at the sign outside the room to tell that this really was the drama club room, and that the club had been disbanded. How had he not noticed before?

The dirt and dust that had accumulated on the sign should have been a clear signal that the room had fallen into disuse, and the puzzled looks he got from the teacher when he asked where the drama club room was should have provided him with a sense of foreboding at the very least.

Nevertheless, he had let his excitement cloud his judgement and had rushed towards what he believed would be his new future, only to be met with a heartbreaking discovery. His dreams now shattered, he fell to his knees and looked to the floor, doing his best to hold back the urge to cry.

He was so caught up in his sorrow that he managed to completely ignore the small girl that slumbered nearby...

[Inoue Kohaku]

shhnnnkg

The door slid open, the motion subtly disturbing the dust in the air. It was then that Kohaku awoke, but she did not move. A person gingerly stepped into the room, words immediately pouring from this person's mouth. The noise was jarring for her; only seconds had passed since the room had been in calm silence. She shut her eyes tighter and held her body still. She didn't want to talk to anyone right now; Kohaku was not a "social butterfly," as the phrase goes. (She still considered herself some sort of butterfly, though. Perhaps she was a "sleepy, introverted butterfly"...?)

It was only a few seconds before the voice went silent. The air grew still. Was the person gone? She listened for a few moments, but there was nothing. She squinted, and vague shapes appearing in her field of vision. Giving up on trying to decipher the nature of the shapes before her, she opened her eyes and took in the scene.

A young, scrawny boy stood in the centre of the room. She carefully noted the way he held himself, the way he took in his surroundings, and the way disappointment crossed over his face as he realized something unknown to her. Something about his loudness and general aura told her that he was not a threat. He still had not noticed her, which meant that he wasn't too observant, either. His focus was on the desolate emptiness of the Drama Club room. He seemed upset. Was he expecting to find an active Drama Club here? She frowned, compassion stirring in her chest.

Kohaku herself had not come here for the Drama Club. Having been at Hikarizaka Private High School for a week, her curiosity had begun to get the better of her. She decided after school that day to explore the different buildings of the school. While exploring, she had come across the abandoned Drama Club room, and then... Her memory was foggy. Considering that she had been sleeping only moments ago, she must have lied down for a moment and fallen asleep. "Silly me," she mouthed silently.

Feeling awkward watching the boy (who had still not noticed her), she sat up. She stretched and yawned, a bit exaggeratedly, in an effort to inform the boy that she was there without startling him. Steeling herself for the inevitable social interaction, she smiled in his direction and introduced herself.

"Hi! I'm Inoue Kohaku, Class 1-A~!" she chirped. "Do, ah, do you need some help?"

[Hayashi Yuki]

This post is now finished! Please reply whenever you have time. =w=

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'No...this can't be!' Yuki felt a powerful surge of shock and disbelief. He had always been in music and drama clubs; a disbanded drama club was unheard of, as far as he was concerned! 'Perhaps it's a temporary affair...? Ugh, this is the worst...' Yuki thought, propelling himself deeper and deeper into a pit of despair.

'...No! There's no point in being depressed, Yuki! Maybe they all joined a different drama club nearby, or maybe they all graduated! Yeah, that must be it.' He thought to himself, stopping this unpleasant train of thought before it reached the final stop. 'Well, if that's the case then all I have to do is find new members!' 

Yuki was snapped out of his thoughts by the loud yawn and stretch of a girl who seemed to appear out of nowhere... 


"Hi! I'm Inoue Kohaku, Class 1-A~!" she chirped. "Do, ah, do you need some help?"

Yuki blinked. Where had she come from? How on earth could a human being just appear out of thin air? Was it even possible? No...perhaps he had just been so focused on his own thoughts that he hadn't noticed her. She had probably been here for a while, in fact...

He took a moment to observe the girl: She wore her hair as a long green Bob cut that reminded him slightly of the flappers of 1920s America, although he certainly wouldn't mention it for fear of being rude. He took into account the unusually long skirt, which he thought hinted at a more innocent personality. Most girls his age would normally wear skirts that went down to around mid-thigh, but this one wore hers to her knees. 

'Oh, wait. She said something, didn't she? I need to reply... Something about needing help?'

He cringed. Since when had he let himself become this unobservant? Resisting the urge to slap himself in the face, he answered as politely as possible.


"I'm fine, thank you. I was wondering: the drama club has been disbanded for quite some time, am I right? If so, may I ask why you were here in the first place? The club room isn't quite the perfect place to be hanging around, you know. People may get the wrong idea..." He rubbed the back of his neck bashfully as he spoke, realizing that the words he had just said sounded rather patronizing, if not outright rude.

"...no offense." He quickly added, hoping that he wouldn't leave the wrong impression on the girl. He was one of the first people Yuki had talked to this year, and he certainly didn't want to push away a possible friend!

[Inoue Kohaku]

The landscape was deserted. The creature had died. Before her was the skeleton of a magnificent dragon. Its flesh, having long since rotted away, left nothing but the cold and empty bones before her: boxes filled with bits and pieces of costumes or props; a small pile of books written about theatre; blurry etchings of chalk on the blackboard. The Drama Club, once a home to passion, fun, and even "family," was no more. The people that had kept this creature alive were gone, and all that remained was its skeleton -- the club room. Dust coated many objects in the room, like a thin layer of snow that covered the dragon and the landscape around it. She brushed some of the snow off of its head and coughed as dust spread into the air. Kohaku closed her eyes. This place felt sacred, in a way. People had laughed together here. People had worked together here. People had loved each other here.

The boy snapped to attention when he heard her voice. He blinked, taken aback by her sudden appearance. His eyes scanned over her, but only for a moment; yes, a single, short moment. He was reluctant to interact. Perhaps he was afraid of offending her in some way. It was familiar; it was the same type of worry that she would have. The image of the dragon in the snowy wasteland disappeared, and her mind returned to the present.

"I'm fine, thank you," he replied. She froze for a moment, already forgetting what she had said only seconds ago to evoke his response. She assumed it was not important. He began to speak again. "I was wondering: the drama club has been disbanded for quite some time, am I right? If so, may I ask why you were here in the first place? The club room isn't quite the perfect place to be hanging around, you know. People may get the wrong idea..."

She uttered a small oh, considering what he was implying. Was she not supposed to explore the club rooms? Maybe he was referring to her falling asleep. Admittedly, it was not something "most people" did at school. She had a penchant for falling asleep. Often.

"...No offense."

Oh, alright. She wanted to say "none taken" but found her tongue and lips strangely noncompliant, so she settled for a nervous smile. They stood in awkward silence for a few seconds, Kohaku unsure of where to take the conversation. If... if this could even count as a conversation. What was the last thing he had said? Besides his consideration of her napping, of course. Right, he had asked a question!

"I think it's been disbanded..." she mumbled, speaking before thinking. "I mean, yes! It's disbanded. That's why everything is packed up and dusty. Oh, and why I was here? Well, it's not much of a reason, I guess; I was exploring the school and got really tired, so I took a nap..." She trailed off, not quite sure where to take the conversation. She glanced at the boy. It dawned on her that he hadn't introduced himself. How could she point that out without being rude? "Oh, I didn't catch your name." Perfect segue. Maybe.

[Hayashi Yuki]

OOC: Thanks for replying so soon! ^w^

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Yuki simply stood there, unsure of what to say next. They sort of just looked in separate directions as a clock ticked out rather audibly compared to the silence of the two.


He began to worry; had he offended her? He had clearly stated that he had meant no offense by what he had said, but perhaps she had taken it the wrong way? Oh, no! What if she no longer wanted to be friends with him anymore?! Had he just screwed up another attempt at friendship?!


His sudden thoughts were cut off as the girl spoke once more. She mumbled something, barely audible. He had not managed to catch it and was about to ask her to repeat herself before she spoke up once more, louder this time.

"I mean, yes! It's disbanded. That's why everything is packed up and dusty." Yuki's heart let go of the small piece of hope inside him that the drama club had not yet been disbanded; he now had confirmation from a fellow student that the club had, in fact, been disbanded a long time ago.


"Oh, and why I was here?" The girl continued,  "Well, it's not much of a reason, I guess; I was exploring the school and got really tired, so I took a nap..." The girl trailed off, and fell into silence once more. She simply glanced at him curiously, making it seem as if she was interested in him for some reason.


Yuki voiced a small “ah” of understanding. So she had fallen asleep from exhaustion, huh? Since she had been exploring the school, she must have been a first-year like him, then! He sighed a sigh of relief. It seemed that she hadn't been offended, after all… He decided that he would try to make friends with her, and was about to speak up, when—

“Oh, I didn't catch your name.” She interjected casually.


‘Oh, crap!’ Yuki thought to himself. ‘Did I forget to introduce myself? How rude of me!’ He worried for a second before deciding that worrying would be useless, and that he should speak up.

He immediately broke into a sheepish smile, and extended his hand towards her. “Sorry I forgot to introduce myself! I’m Hayashi Yuki. Nice to meet you, Inoue-san!”

[Inoue Kohaku]

The boy seemed to freeze up at her question, which immediately sent her mind into a panic. Had she asked him wrong? She should have been more careful with her choice of wor--

“Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself!” Oh. So she had asked him just fine, then. She worried for nothing. “I’m Hayashi Yuki. Nice to meet you, Inoue-san!” Likewise, she wanted to say, but after that scare a moment ago, her mouth once again refused to follow her desires. She was much too bewildered by her grogginess and the prospect of meeting and impressing this person she had just met -- a task that required a Herculean amount of energy and fortitude. She looked down; Hayashi, as he had been christened, was holding his hand out toward her, waiting expectantly. Why was he reaching out? What was she supposed to do here? Maybe it was some kind of test; maybe all of this was a test. They were waiting for her to mess up, and once she did, they would... do something terrible to her, she was sure.

...Hold on, that's that one Western greeting, right?? A handshake. Never mind that other stuff, it was much more likely that he was just initiating a handshake. It was a bit odd that he would go for it here, but she didn't have the authority to comment on what was and wasn't “odd”, if her actions up till now were any indication. Kohaku reeeeeaaaally didn't want to touch this Sorta Stranger, but her anxiety about offending Hayashi in some way forced down her apprehension. She shoved her limp hand into his, unsure of how one actually does shake hands... so she kind of, sorta, gave his hand a squeeze and pulled her hand back quickly. Good enough. Certainly. Maybe?

...

That was weird. She wasn't going to try that again any time soon. She thought about explaining her previous hesitation to him, because he had assuredly noticed, but she couldn't think of the words to use for such an explanation. Maybe if she was lucky, he'd figure it out on his own. Oh, please don't be offended, Hayashi-san...!

She looked up at his face, trying to, somehow, obtain his true thoughts about her from his facial expression. That goal was quickly discard as she instead got lost in studying his features. His eyelashes, which tastefully framed his red eyes. It was a soft red, as opposed to a striking sharp red, that seemed to reveal a gentle disposition. His eyes had a hopeful gleam that she was not sure how to feel about. His white hair parted to each side of his face, but he also had a set of bangs that pointed straight down, covering the bridge of his noise. It reminded her of a peninsula.

Kohaku was so enthralled that she forgot, for the moment, her own concerns about making a good impression.

[Hayashi Yuki]

Yuki felt Inoue's gaze looking over him curiously, and suddenly felt somewhat naked under her gaze. He couldn't sense any kind of lustful intent, which was reassuring in itself, but that made this feel more like an inspection; it felt like she was looking for something about him to criticise, some way to embarrass him. Maybe his hair was messy? He hadn't really gone to much effort to style it today, so maybe it was that. Or maybe Mofu-kun had molted fur over his trousers? He had been playing with him in the morning before he'd gone to school...

In any case, this didn't feel right. It just felt... off. Not just Inoue checking him out like this, but all of it. The school being relatively quiet after lesson time, the drama club being empty and disbanded, the general lack of life... Is this what life was like out in the countryside? There was barely anything going on! Maybe it would just be better for Yuki to go home and practise his piano... He'd been working on Raindrop Prelude for the last few days, so perhaps that was the better option. Maybe he could stop by that bakery he'd seen a few times on the way home from school... the kind, motherly brown-haired lady had always smiled at him if she saw him walking past, and he'd smiled back. Who knew? Perhaps the bread there would taste good... but Yuki decided it wouldn't be a good idea to just ditch this new person. That'd be rude.

"So, um, Inoue-san... is there a particular reason you're looking over me like that, or...? I mean, i-it's not like I hate it or anything, just that it feels a little bit strange..." Yuki quickly made sure to avoid offence again, to avoid making this situation more awkward than it was, to avoid making enemies. "Do you perhaps have some kind of hobby like people-watching? Aha ha ha..." Yuki laughed nervously.

This was awkward to a galactic level.

[Inoue Kohaku]

As she stood there, watching him, trying to glean as much as she could about him without resorting to clumsy words, time seemed to stand still. The late afternoon sun shone through the half-closed blinds of the drama club room, spreading a gentle light over the two of them. He seemed to freeze under her gaze, possibly taken aback by her firm stare, but she was oblivious to his uncertainty.

“So, um, Inoue-san... is there a particular reason you're looking over me like that, or...? I mean, i-it's not like I hate it or anything, just that it feels a little bit strange...”

Kohaku blinked, the timeless bubble she had been lost in popping as Hayashi-san spoke. She was... "looking over" him? She blushed, taking a step backward. Oh no. He had caught her studying his face, and he thought she was being strange! Now he was going to think she had some sort of bad intentions! Ahhhh, why was it so hard to talk to this person? Was it his fault? Or hers? She was being socially useless again!! She had to think of something to say.

Maybe she could pretend something was on his face. Oh, but that would be too mean, and then he'd try to reach for it and find nothing and it would make him feel embarrassed too... Ah, but she could pretend that she just zoned out! No, wait, she didn't want her reputation to become, "a girl who randomly zones out while speaking to you". She thought about being honest, for a moment, but she needed to figure out how to word that, and the words wouldn't come to her. Her mind was blank.

As she stood there, blushing, mind racing, he continued. "Do you perhaps have some kind of hobby like people-watching? Aha ha ha..."

N-no?? Not that there was anything wrong with that sort of thing, but it was just not the case here! She needed to give some sort of explanation. “I w-was, uh, just trying to understand you. Er, your personality. By... looking at your face,” she stammered out, her thoughts raw and unfiltered. That was the truth, but it sounded even weirder! Oh noooooo! She began to panic. This was a mistake. It was time for her to leave. So, she stepped towards the door, but stopped, because Hayashi-san was standing in it. “Uhm, I think I should be going, it seems kind of late... S-so, excuse me...” she said, motioning to the hallway with her hand so that he would get the idea to let her aside. What time was it anyway? Well, school was out, so she probably needed to head home. That was a good enough excuse for her.

[Hayashi Yuki]

"Oh, okay." Yuki blinked, his face completely blank in response to Inoue-san's sudden outburst. He stepped aside as she exited the room and stared after her, confused. That had been a very awkward encounter indeed, but at least she didn't seem to think any less of him. In fact, she seemed to think less of herself than anyone else, with the nervous way she held herself and the softness of her voice, like a harp played at pianissimo. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing, just odd. It stood out to Yuki.

Deciding to shrug off today's events, Yuki waited for a few moments, taking in one last look at the abandoned room as if to say farewell to his dreams, dead before even being able to take proper shape. With a sigh, Yuki decided to look around the school to see if he could find a music room, hoping to be able to try polishing the last section of Haydn's Sonata in E flat before heading home to continue with Raindrop Prelude.

"All in all, could have gone worse, could have gone better..."