Log: Horio & Tomoka! ♥
Characters: Horio Satoshi & Osakada Tomoka
Rating/Warnings: Perfectly G
When: October 11th
Where: School grounds and music room
What: Horio is lost. It's Tomoka to the rescue. A friendship forms. And there will be music~
Comments: Are totally welcome~ ♥ ... And I realize Horio is different from canon, but he's 16, not 13, so... >_>
Tomoka was out and about as there weren't any classes and she had finished her club work. It was close to sunset and no doubt the rest of the Day Class mob was about ready to attack the Night Class. For once the pigtail haired girl didn't feel like joining in the 'festivities'. Perhaps it was because she already got to spend so much time with Jirou or the black market work lately giving her access to all the pictures. (Not that she still wasn't interested in the Night Class at all; hot boys were hot boys plain and simple.) Either way, today was also a break from that; but at the same time the girl was left with little to really do.
She decided to just wander around campus aimlessly for a bit trying to decide what to do while she still had time before curfew. At least it was relatively peaceful with people crowded elsewhere; not that she minded, noise didn't really bother the girl.
"I'm sure it was around here somewhere..." A tall, fair haired boy dressed in the white of the night class, stood underneath an archway, looking around. In his hand he had a slip of paper, slightly crumpled, and on his fingers metal rings glittered. He had matching metal studs in his pierced ears, which probably would have been reflected in the setting sun, had he been out where the rays could find him. He was not, however. The boy looked up from the paper and glanced around, his eyes falling on a girl with pigtails and a Day class uniform. His face broke up in a grin and he waved at her. "Hey, you, excuse me!"
"Hm?" Tomoka looked around when a voice broke the silence around her. She caught sight of a familiar Night Class uniform but being worn by someone not too familiar. Tomoka ignored the fact he had called out a bit rudely because he was a new, and kinda cute, face.
"Yes~?" she chimed approaching him slowly and glancing from the paper to him. A new student perhaps?
"Oh, good, you came over. Hi, I'm Horio Satoshi and I'm new. I... Can't seem to find my way to the music room." He made a small face down at the paper, which, not surprisingly, was a map of the school grounds. "I'm not good at reading stuff like this, you know?"
"I'm Osakada Tomoka, but you can call me Tomo-chan. I was wondering what a Night Class student was doing around here." she giggled, and then glanced to the paper he had. The way the maps were written she wasn't surprised so many people got lost when they started. It was a pretty huge campus after all. "The music room, huh? It should be in the main building right about..." she spoke as she leaned closer to look at the map and traced her finger around it. "Ah, here! Just keep following this path until you get to the main building and it'll be on the first floor down the hall." It was kind of funny helping out a Night Class student, normally these situations were always the other way around. Day Class girls just loved getting directions from Night Class boys after all; especially when they offered to show them around.
"It's that simple?" He blinked, staring at her. "... Oh." Satoshi found himself blushing, and mentally berated himself for being so utterly stupid that he couldn't even follow a straight path... Even if it was drawn on a piece of paper. "Tomo-chan, huh? You can call me whatever you want." He grinned at her, blush still staining his ears. "Uh. You wouldn't mind showing me the way, would you?"
"Sure thing, Horio-kun." She decided not to be more bold with his name as she already caught the boy blushing a bit. Night Class or Day Class; boys still seemed to be easy to tease here, for the most part anyway. (There were quite a few exceptions but she was sure it was just a matter of age.) Tomoka smiled and took a few steps forward waiting for the boy to follow along. She wondered if he'd be as friendly as Jirou trying to hold her hand or anything.
He smiled gratefully at her before falling in next to her. He tried not to be too nervous; he had been home schooled most of his life, and spending time with a girl, alone wasn't really something that had ever happened to him before. He knew that his brother Junpei said that human girls were only good for one thing; feeding, but Junpei didn't know much about anything anyway, and concerning this particular matter, Satoshi thought that he couldn't be more wrong even if he tried. "... Night Class and Day Class usually don't mix, right?"
"Mix, what do you mean?" she couldn't help asking him back. Sure the classes were set up under two different schedules and curfews but students weren't not encouraged to mingle. At least that was the impression most of them were under. It wasn't like there was any reason they shouldn't; at least not that she was aware of. Though she was really getting tired of the curfews and restrictions. There was really nothing different about them all other than sleeping schedules and health conditions as far as the young girl knew.
"I mean... Well..." Oh, how did one say this without making a complete fool out of oneself? Satoshi wasn't certain he had the imagination to pull it off, so he settled for the next best thing; a shrug. "... Different... times. You know?" Lame. Lame. So very lame. He could have bitten his tongue off.
"Oh, that~" Tomoka laughed a little. Though she had found it a bit strange she just shrugged it off and figured it was because he was new. "There's a two hour curfew overlap and during special occasions like the festival and or getting permission the classes can spend more time together." she smiled to him. Though it was getting a bit tiring for the girl having to resort to those methods. "Or one could simply forget the rules..." she couldn't help saying under her breath.
"..." He stopped in his tracks for a moment and stared at her. But that's dangerous! Some good grace kept him from blurting that out however, and he simply nodded, a smirk finding its way to his lips. "Well, I guess. How's your memory, Tomo-chan? It was Tomo-chan, right? How often do you... like, you know. Forget the rules?"
Tomoka stopped and glanced back at him curiously. Was it that shocking of a concept? Well... if he was a goody-goody like Sakuno she supposed it could be. "That’s a secret~" she winked deviously back him. Though it was obvious by her expression the answer was really ‘a lot.’
"Playing naughty." He stepped a little bit closer, eyes involuntarily drawn to her neck and the small vein that stood out against her taut skin there. "That's really not something you should do, you know?" He tore his eyes away, blushing again. Really, his mind supplied to him, there probably had been a good reason his parents had kept him away from close contact with humans...
"Ara, are you worried about me~?" she mused playfully, taking a few steps closer to him herself. She took notice of his strange gaze on her but it was only for a split second so she didn't think much of it. He sure was shy, yet bold at the same time like Jirou. Night Class boys were pretty strange; but still cute.
"Isn't that a given?" He grinned at her. "A guy should always try to look out for any lovely companions he might have at his side, that's what Papa always says." Well, and then Maman went and whacked him over his head with a magazine or something, but that wasn't anything he needed to share, right?
"Oh~?" Yeah, she could get used to hanging around more Night Class boys if they shot out things like him. "My, well your Papa was a wise man indeed." she giggled, "And you're not to bad yourself~" Not that she was going to let his worry get in the way of her daily rounds out of curfew. It was just such a force of habit now... "But I'll be fine, have been since I started anyway." she smiled and started walking again a bit slowly so he could catch up. As much as she enjoyed flirting she didn't want it to turn into a lecture of obeying the rules.
He resumed his walking as well, eyes darting around to take in everything around him. It was all so new, he had never been to a place like this before; it was quite different from the small, rural village in the mountains where he had grown up. Old fashioned Japanese houses, not more than 4000 or so inhabitants, and most of them he had never even met. Never any friends around his age. In a way, he guessed the school was like an oasis after a lifetime in the desert. "How long have you been attending this place?"
"Just a few months, I was a bit late in arriving myself so I know what it's like to be new." she smiled at him again. His eyes were wandering all over the place it was quite amusing. Then again the campus was pretty impressive, even she had to take a few weeks to get used to it all.
"Really?" He stopped again and looked at her, excitement quite evident in his face. Having a poker face was not Satoshi's forte by a long shot. "So I'm not the only one then? Thank god!"
"Nope, not at all~" she laughed a little. It was nice to know these boys were so honest with their emotions. Made getting to know them and figure them out loads easier. "There's a lot of people who transferred in late. I think it's more rare to find people who have been around since the start."
"I wonder why that is..." He looked thoughtful for a moment, throwing his arms behind his head, resting his hands against the back of his neck. "I mean, this school's great, right? That's what Papa said. People should be honored to be students here."
"Well... I don't know about honored. It is just a school, after all." she giggled mistaking his enthusiasm. "Lucky is a good word for it though. I know I'm thankful to come here instead of attending anymore all-girls private schools~" she sighed happily. Indeed, it was a nice change.
He blinked. "All-girls? That's where you've been before? What was that like?" He asked, truly curious, without any lecherous thoughts going through his head. Sure, he had heard some guys joke a few years back, about all-girls schools and nuns and what-not, but back then he hadn't even been mature enough to understand what they insinuated. And now he didn't care. He just wanted to know what kind of lifestyle that was, as nearly all lifestyles were foreign to him.
"Pretty darn boring, really." she said bluntly. "Sure there were a lot of us and the rules weren't super strict. But really... hanging out with other girls who only knew of all girls school lifestyles was dull~" And it was true, she had been surrounded by girls who were ready to be housewives and accept all the boring homely duties possible. Life just felt so old-fashioned in the schools. "I mean who likes taking ikebana or tea ceremony classes? Bo~ring." Tomoka sighed, trying not to think too much about them.
"I've never even been to a tea ceremony," Satoshi admitted, giving a crooked grin. "Weird, huh? Don't even like tea all that much." His mother was pretty good at ikebana however, and their house had always been filled with the nice smell of flowers. Flowers smelled like home. "Mama is good at arranging flowers. But I totally see that it isn't for everyone, you know?"
"Trust me, it all gets really boring really fast if you do it on a daily basis. I used to like tea a lot but after performing a ceremony at least once a month for a few years I'm not such a fan anymore..." Tomoka brooded softly over the past. God, she had almost forgotten how completely happy she was finally being at a public school. "It's so nice to finally be at a normal school for once in my life~"
... Not normal. Totally not normal. He gave her a strange look from the side, then tried to arrange his features into what he hoped was a convincing grin. (Again with the no poker face business. He had to work on that, really.) "Yeah, lucky! Glad you're here too, you know. Or we wouldn't have met!"
Tomoka noticed the odd look; she had been paying close attention to any Night Class student she talked with automatically now. It was a bad new habit she picked up since first meeting with Jirou. Most of the time she tried to ignore any strange things she noticed, which she kept doing with Horio. He was new and probably just awkward around people still anyway; he had the benefit of a lot of doubt from her, for now. "Hehe, exactly~" she grinned back at him.
"Wanna be friends?" His grin turned completely genuine and he held out his hand towards her.
"Of course, I thought we already were." she pretended to pout for a moment. Tomoka then happily took his hand, and proceeded to lead him along a bit further instead of just shaking it. They were close to the music room anyway, she figured this way would be faster.
Nodding enthusiastically, he allowed her to drag him along. "Do you like music? I play the guitar myself, but I think I could use a bit of practice, only been playing for two years, so... But that makes it two years of guitaring experience, right? That's kinda good! I mean, not as good as if I've been playing since I was little, but it's better than nothing!"
"Yeah, I like music. And two years of experience is better than none, like me~" she giggled. Well he was more of a chatterbox than she thought. At least that probably meant he wasn't feeling so awkward anymore. "I'm sure you're great." she winked back at him as she playfully dragged him along.
"I'll show you," he beamed. "And if you survive with your brains not bleeding out of your ears, I should say I'm not totally inadequate."
"I'm sure you should give yourself more credit than that." She squeezed his hand a bit to show her encouragement. "And a private show? I'm honored~"
"You bet! Just for you." He smiled and started to swing her hand back and forth. "This is great! I've never had a friend before," he confessed innocently.
"Eh~? Never had a friend before? You have to be kidding." she gasped, stopping for a moment and glancing back to the boy.
He blinked. "... Not kidding. You're my first."
Well, that one took her by surprise. After all Night Class kids were always so popular that they normally were before coming there too. Or at least that was the impression she had been under. "Then I hope I can be your best too~" she giggled and continued to drag him along, swinging their hands together. Whether he was telling the truth about it or not she'd play along; either way the boy wanted to be friends and that was plenty for Tomoka. It just helped a whole lot he was pretty cute too~
He smiled and as they ventured inside the building, walking down the hallways, he said thoughtfully: "I've read about best friends and stuff, but how come it's almost always two boys or two girls that are best friends? I'd totally love to be your best friend, and we can, right, even if you're a girl? There's no rule against it, right? Oh, and do you have other friends? How many best friends are you allowed to have? Like, really?"
He sure was full of a lot of questions, kind of strange ones at that. "Sure they can be, there aren't any rules about friends after all. You can be friends with anyone~ And have as many best friends as you want too." she said a bit matter-of-factedly.
"How does that add up? I mean.... Doesn't best friend kind of indicate singularity?" Absentmindedly he took note of the names and numbers on the classrooms they walked past.
"Does it have to add up?" she riddled him back. "Everyone has their own idea about best friends I suppose but I believe there's no need to put a number to it." Though truthfully Tomoka never really had many friends herself. Perhaps that was why she was being a bit more understanding to the boy that usual. After all she had only ever really known Sakuno before coming to the Academy and since hasn't exactly made as many friends as the other girl.
"Numbers aren't much fun anyway." He shrugged and reached out a hand to open the door in front of him; the music room had finally been found. He grinned as he found it unlocked and slipped inside, pulling her with him. "Want to hear me play now," he asked, looking around for a guitar. He found four of them hanging on one of the opposite walls.
"I'd love to~" she smiled after being pulled into the room with him. It was actually her first time being inside the music room. She had always admired music but never really thought about trying to play herself. The girl doubted her ability to really; despite not wanting to she really was more skilled in home making now than anything else. Well, except maybe flirting but that wasn't something to brag about; even she knew that.
Satoshi let go of her hand and walked up to the wall, taking down one of the acoustic guitars. He pulled up a chair, sat down and rested the instrument in his lap, trying out the strings before striking a few cords. "I can do this." He stared easily enough, with the first song he had ever learned when learning how to play.
Tomoka took a seat nearby as she listened to him play. It was a simple song and the strumming was quite clear; overall he was average. But of course having two years of experience it was what one would expect. Nevertheless it was still good and nice to listen to. When he finished she waited for him to pause before giving him a small applause.
"It's not very special," he said, blushing. "I... can try something else as well, if you'd like to?" Or maybe he was boring her.
"I'd like that~" And she was being honest. Though part of her did want to say it wasn't the greatest she knew that he was still playing well for what he knew. And the fact he was playing just for her was appealing to the girl.
He nodded, blush still evident on his face, as he raked his mind over, trying to remember how to start the song off. He thought - hoped - that he had it eventually, and uncertainly he started playing, awkwardly at first, but as the song continued he grew more confident. Once he finished, he had made a few mistakes here and there, but he had at least managed to play all the way through, humming the melody as he went along.
"That was great~" Tomoka cheered as she clapped for him some more. She hadn't even really caught where he made some mistakes at the end because she was enjoying his performance. She had never had music played just for her before so she got a bit caught up in the songs.
"It's a song composed by..." He caught himself. He was about to say 'vampire', but that wouldn't do. "... A pretty unknown guy from like... fifty years ago or something. Did you really like it?"
"Yep, I did. You're really good at playing, Horio-kun. No need to be modest~" she smiled. Though his explanation of the song was a bit strange. Then again she was never good at remembering who composed music either.
"Well, you know, two years of experience and all!" Look, someone was boasting. He caught himself - that was pretty childish, wasn't it? - and blushed, getting to his feet. "Anyway, cool. Thanks for listening." It really meant a lot, to have someone other than his parents say that he was good. A smile played across his features as he walked over to the other guitars, hanging the one he used up.
"Thanks for sharing you two years of experience with me~" she teased lightly. He seemed quite proud of it, it was kind of cute. And she had really enjoyed listening to it a bit to her surprise.
Rating/Warnings: Perfectly G
When: October 11th
Where: School grounds and music room
What: Horio is lost. It's Tomoka to the rescue. A friendship forms. And there will be music~
Comments: Are totally welcome~ ♥ ... And I realize Horio is different from canon, but he's 16, not 13, so... >_>
Tomoka was out and about as there weren't any classes and she had finished her club work. It was close to sunset and no doubt the rest of the Day Class mob was about ready to attack the Night Class. For once the pigtail haired girl didn't feel like joining in the 'festivities'. Perhaps it was because she already got to spend so much time with Jirou or the black market work lately giving her access to all the pictures. (Not that she still wasn't interested in the Night Class at all; hot boys were hot boys plain and simple.) Either way, today was also a break from that; but at the same time the girl was left with little to really do.
She decided to just wander around campus aimlessly for a bit trying to decide what to do while she still had time before curfew. At least it was relatively peaceful with people crowded elsewhere; not that she minded, noise didn't really bother the girl.
"I'm sure it was around here somewhere..." A tall, fair haired boy dressed in the white of the night class, stood underneath an archway, looking around. In his hand he had a slip of paper, slightly crumpled, and on his fingers metal rings glittered. He had matching metal studs in his pierced ears, which probably would have been reflected in the setting sun, had he been out where the rays could find him. He was not, however. The boy looked up from the paper and glanced around, his eyes falling on a girl with pigtails and a Day class uniform. His face broke up in a grin and he waved at her. "Hey, you, excuse me!"
"Hm?" Tomoka looked around when a voice broke the silence around her. She caught sight of a familiar Night Class uniform but being worn by someone not too familiar. Tomoka ignored the fact he had called out a bit rudely because he was a new, and kinda cute, face.
"Yes~?" she chimed approaching him slowly and glancing from the paper to him. A new student perhaps?
"Oh, good, you came over. Hi, I'm Horio Satoshi and I'm new. I... Can't seem to find my way to the music room." He made a small face down at the paper, which, not surprisingly, was a map of the school grounds. "I'm not good at reading stuff like this, you know?"
"I'm Osakada Tomoka, but you can call me Tomo-chan. I was wondering what a Night Class student was doing around here." she giggled, and then glanced to the paper he had. The way the maps were written she wasn't surprised so many people got lost when they started. It was a pretty huge campus after all. "The music room, huh? It should be in the main building right about..." she spoke as she leaned closer to look at the map and traced her finger around it. "Ah, here! Just keep following this path until you get to the main building and it'll be on the first floor down the hall." It was kind of funny helping out a Night Class student, normally these situations were always the other way around. Day Class girls just loved getting directions from Night Class boys after all; especially when they offered to show them around.
"It's that simple?" He blinked, staring at her. "... Oh." Satoshi found himself blushing, and mentally berated himself for being so utterly stupid that he couldn't even follow a straight path... Even if it was drawn on a piece of paper. "Tomo-chan, huh? You can call me whatever you want." He grinned at her, blush still staining his ears. "Uh. You wouldn't mind showing me the way, would you?"
"Sure thing, Horio-kun." She decided not to be more bold with his name as she already caught the boy blushing a bit. Night Class or Day Class; boys still seemed to be easy to tease here, for the most part anyway. (There were quite a few exceptions but she was sure it was just a matter of age.) Tomoka smiled and took a few steps forward waiting for the boy to follow along. She wondered if he'd be as friendly as Jirou trying to hold her hand or anything.
He smiled gratefully at her before falling in next to her. He tried not to be too nervous; he had been home schooled most of his life, and spending time with a girl, alone wasn't really something that had ever happened to him before. He knew that his brother Junpei said that human girls were only good for one thing; feeding, but Junpei didn't know much about anything anyway, and concerning this particular matter, Satoshi thought that he couldn't be more wrong even if he tried. "... Night Class and Day Class usually don't mix, right?"
"Mix, what do you mean?" she couldn't help asking him back. Sure the classes were set up under two different schedules and curfews but students weren't not encouraged to mingle. At least that was the impression most of them were under. It wasn't like there was any reason they shouldn't; at least not that she was aware of. Though she was really getting tired of the curfews and restrictions. There was really nothing different about them all other than sleeping schedules and health conditions as far as the young girl knew.
"I mean... Well..." Oh, how did one say this without making a complete fool out of oneself? Satoshi wasn't certain he had the imagination to pull it off, so he settled for the next best thing; a shrug. "... Different... times. You know?" Lame. Lame. So very lame. He could have bitten his tongue off.
"Oh, that~" Tomoka laughed a little. Though she had found it a bit strange she just shrugged it off and figured it was because he was new. "There's a two hour curfew overlap and during special occasions like the festival and or getting permission the classes can spend more time together." she smiled to him. Though it was getting a bit tiring for the girl having to resort to those methods. "Or one could simply forget the rules..." she couldn't help saying under her breath.
"..." He stopped in his tracks for a moment and stared at her. But that's dangerous! Some good grace kept him from blurting that out however, and he simply nodded, a smirk finding its way to his lips. "Well, I guess. How's your memory, Tomo-chan? It was Tomo-chan, right? How often do you... like, you know. Forget the rules?"
Tomoka stopped and glanced back at him curiously. Was it that shocking of a concept? Well... if he was a goody-goody like Sakuno she supposed it could be. "That’s a secret~" she winked deviously back him. Though it was obvious by her expression the answer was really ‘a lot.’
"Playing naughty." He stepped a little bit closer, eyes involuntarily drawn to her neck and the small vein that stood out against her taut skin there. "That's really not something you should do, you know?" He tore his eyes away, blushing again. Really, his mind supplied to him, there probably had been a good reason his parents had kept him away from close contact with humans...
"Ara, are you worried about me~?" she mused playfully, taking a few steps closer to him herself. She took notice of his strange gaze on her but it was only for a split second so she didn't think much of it. He sure was shy, yet bold at the same time like Jirou. Night Class boys were pretty strange; but still cute.
"Isn't that a given?" He grinned at her. "A guy should always try to look out for any lovely companions he might have at his side, that's what Papa always says." Well, and then Maman went and whacked him over his head with a magazine or something, but that wasn't anything he needed to share, right?
"Oh~?" Yeah, she could get used to hanging around more Night Class boys if they shot out things like him. "My, well your Papa was a wise man indeed." she giggled, "And you're not to bad yourself~" Not that she was going to let his worry get in the way of her daily rounds out of curfew. It was just such a force of habit now... "But I'll be fine, have been since I started anyway." she smiled and started walking again a bit slowly so he could catch up. As much as she enjoyed flirting she didn't want it to turn into a lecture of obeying the rules.
He resumed his walking as well, eyes darting around to take in everything around him. It was all so new, he had never been to a place like this before; it was quite different from the small, rural village in the mountains where he had grown up. Old fashioned Japanese houses, not more than 4000 or so inhabitants, and most of them he had never even met. Never any friends around his age. In a way, he guessed the school was like an oasis after a lifetime in the desert. "How long have you been attending this place?"
"Just a few months, I was a bit late in arriving myself so I know what it's like to be new." she smiled at him again. His eyes were wandering all over the place it was quite amusing. Then again the campus was pretty impressive, even she had to take a few weeks to get used to it all.
"Really?" He stopped again and looked at her, excitement quite evident in his face. Having a poker face was not Satoshi's forte by a long shot. "So I'm not the only one then? Thank god!"
"Nope, not at all~" she laughed a little. It was nice to know these boys were so honest with their emotions. Made getting to know them and figure them out loads easier. "There's a lot of people who transferred in late. I think it's more rare to find people who have been around since the start."
"I wonder why that is..." He looked thoughtful for a moment, throwing his arms behind his head, resting his hands against the back of his neck. "I mean, this school's great, right? That's what Papa said. People should be honored to be students here."
"Well... I don't know about honored. It is just a school, after all." she giggled mistaking his enthusiasm. "Lucky is a good word for it though. I know I'm thankful to come here instead of attending anymore all-girls private schools~" she sighed happily. Indeed, it was a nice change.
He blinked. "All-girls? That's where you've been before? What was that like?" He asked, truly curious, without any lecherous thoughts going through his head. Sure, he had heard some guys joke a few years back, about all-girls schools and nuns and what-not, but back then he hadn't even been mature enough to understand what they insinuated. And now he didn't care. He just wanted to know what kind of lifestyle that was, as nearly all lifestyles were foreign to him.
"Pretty darn boring, really." she said bluntly. "Sure there were a lot of us and the rules weren't super strict. But really... hanging out with other girls who only knew of all girls school lifestyles was dull~" And it was true, she had been surrounded by girls who were ready to be housewives and accept all the boring homely duties possible. Life just felt so old-fashioned in the schools. "I mean who likes taking ikebana or tea ceremony classes? Bo~ring." Tomoka sighed, trying not to think too much about them.
"I've never even been to a tea ceremony," Satoshi admitted, giving a crooked grin. "Weird, huh? Don't even like tea all that much." His mother was pretty good at ikebana however, and their house had always been filled with the nice smell of flowers. Flowers smelled like home. "Mama is good at arranging flowers. But I totally see that it isn't for everyone, you know?"
"Trust me, it all gets really boring really fast if you do it on a daily basis. I used to like tea a lot but after performing a ceremony at least once a month for a few years I'm not such a fan anymore..." Tomoka brooded softly over the past. God, she had almost forgotten how completely happy she was finally being at a public school. "It's so nice to finally be at a normal school for once in my life~"
... Not normal. Totally not normal. He gave her a strange look from the side, then tried to arrange his features into what he hoped was a convincing grin. (Again with the no poker face business. He had to work on that, really.) "Yeah, lucky! Glad you're here too, you know. Or we wouldn't have met!"
Tomoka noticed the odd look; she had been paying close attention to any Night Class student she talked with automatically now. It was a bad new habit she picked up since first meeting with Jirou. Most of the time she tried to ignore any strange things she noticed, which she kept doing with Horio. He was new and probably just awkward around people still anyway; he had the benefit of a lot of doubt from her, for now. "Hehe, exactly~" she grinned back at him.
"Wanna be friends?" His grin turned completely genuine and he held out his hand towards her.
"Of course, I thought we already were." she pretended to pout for a moment. Tomoka then happily took his hand, and proceeded to lead him along a bit further instead of just shaking it. They were close to the music room anyway, she figured this way would be faster.
Nodding enthusiastically, he allowed her to drag him along. "Do you like music? I play the guitar myself, but I think I could use a bit of practice, only been playing for two years, so... But that makes it two years of guitaring experience, right? That's kinda good! I mean, not as good as if I've been playing since I was little, but it's better than nothing!"
"Yeah, I like music. And two years of experience is better than none, like me~" she giggled. Well he was more of a chatterbox than she thought. At least that probably meant he wasn't feeling so awkward anymore. "I'm sure you're great." she winked back at him as she playfully dragged him along.
"I'll show you," he beamed. "And if you survive with your brains not bleeding out of your ears, I should say I'm not totally inadequate."
"I'm sure you should give yourself more credit than that." She squeezed his hand a bit to show her encouragement. "And a private show? I'm honored~"
"You bet! Just for you." He smiled and started to swing her hand back and forth. "This is great! I've never had a friend before," he confessed innocently.
"Eh~? Never had a friend before? You have to be kidding." she gasped, stopping for a moment and glancing back to the boy.
He blinked. "... Not kidding. You're my first."
Well, that one took her by surprise. After all Night Class kids were always so popular that they normally were before coming there too. Or at least that was the impression she had been under. "Then I hope I can be your best too~" she giggled and continued to drag him along, swinging their hands together. Whether he was telling the truth about it or not she'd play along; either way the boy wanted to be friends and that was plenty for Tomoka. It just helped a whole lot he was pretty cute too~
He smiled and as they ventured inside the building, walking down the hallways, he said thoughtfully: "I've read about best friends and stuff, but how come it's almost always two boys or two girls that are best friends? I'd totally love to be your best friend, and we can, right, even if you're a girl? There's no rule against it, right? Oh, and do you have other friends? How many best friends are you allowed to have? Like, really?"
He sure was full of a lot of questions, kind of strange ones at that. "Sure they can be, there aren't any rules about friends after all. You can be friends with anyone~ And have as many best friends as you want too." she said a bit matter-of-factedly.
"How does that add up? I mean.... Doesn't best friend kind of indicate singularity?" Absentmindedly he took note of the names and numbers on the classrooms they walked past.
"Does it have to add up?" she riddled him back. "Everyone has their own idea about best friends I suppose but I believe there's no need to put a number to it." Though truthfully Tomoka never really had many friends herself. Perhaps that was why she was being a bit more understanding to the boy that usual. After all she had only ever really known Sakuno before coming to the Academy and since hasn't exactly made as many friends as the other girl.
"Numbers aren't much fun anyway." He shrugged and reached out a hand to open the door in front of him; the music room had finally been found. He grinned as he found it unlocked and slipped inside, pulling her with him. "Want to hear me play now," he asked, looking around for a guitar. He found four of them hanging on one of the opposite walls.
"I'd love to~" she smiled after being pulled into the room with him. It was actually her first time being inside the music room. She had always admired music but never really thought about trying to play herself. The girl doubted her ability to really; despite not wanting to she really was more skilled in home making now than anything else. Well, except maybe flirting but that wasn't something to brag about; even she knew that.
Satoshi let go of her hand and walked up to the wall, taking down one of the acoustic guitars. He pulled up a chair, sat down and rested the instrument in his lap, trying out the strings before striking a few cords. "I can do this." He stared easily enough, with the first song he had ever learned when learning how to play.
Tomoka took a seat nearby as she listened to him play. It was a simple song and the strumming was quite clear; overall he was average. But of course having two years of experience it was what one would expect. Nevertheless it was still good and nice to listen to. When he finished she waited for him to pause before giving him a small applause.
"It's not very special," he said, blushing. "I... can try something else as well, if you'd like to?" Or maybe he was boring her.
"I'd like that~" And she was being honest. Though part of her did want to say it wasn't the greatest she knew that he was still playing well for what he knew. And the fact he was playing just for her was appealing to the girl.
He nodded, blush still evident on his face, as he raked his mind over, trying to remember how to start the song off. He thought - hoped - that he had it eventually, and uncertainly he started playing, awkwardly at first, but as the song continued he grew more confident. Once he finished, he had made a few mistakes here and there, but he had at least managed to play all the way through, humming the melody as he went along.
"That was great~" Tomoka cheered as she clapped for him some more. She hadn't even really caught where he made some mistakes at the end because she was enjoying his performance. She had never had music played just for her before so she got a bit caught up in the songs.
"It's a song composed by..." He caught himself. He was about to say 'vampire', but that wouldn't do. "... A pretty unknown guy from like... fifty years ago or something. Did you really like it?"
"Yep, I did. You're really good at playing, Horio-kun. No need to be modest~" she smiled. Though his explanation of the song was a bit strange. Then again she was never good at remembering who composed music either.
"Well, you know, two years of experience and all!" Look, someone was boasting. He caught himself - that was pretty childish, wasn't it? - and blushed, getting to his feet. "Anyway, cool. Thanks for listening." It really meant a lot, to have someone other than his parents say that he was good. A smile played across his features as he walked over to the other guitars, hanging the one he used up.
"Thanks for sharing you two years of experience with me~" she teased lightly. He seemed quite proud of it, it was kind of cute. And she had really enjoyed listening to it a bit to her surprise.